Wellbeing: Overview + SIG resources

Abstract
Background: Improving healthcare professional well-being and reducing burnout requires improving work ecosystems and cultures. Current well-being metrics focus on distal outcomes within individuals ( e.g. , professional fulfillment or burnout). This study developed and evaluated the performance of an inventory measuring perceptions of modifiable workplace dimensions-termed "influencers"-that shape healthcare professionals' well-being.

Methods: A core team developed the Well-Being Influencers Survey for Healthcare (WISH), an inventory designed to measure these systemic, occupational well-being influencers ( e.g. , leadership support, psychologic safety, working conditions). After content validation and refinement, 223 healthcare professionals from an academic department of anesthesiology completed WISH alongside established well-being measures, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory; the Professional Fulfillment Index; the Perceived Stress Scale; the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System short forms for meaning, purpose, and life satisfaction; as well as standard items of affective commitment (a measure of engagement) and a standard item assessing intention to leave. Factor analysis was used to assess WISH's internal structure, while correlation and regression analyses assessed its criterion-related validity using the above established measures.

Results: WISH showed the expected relationships with established well-being measures and outperformed established metrics in predicting affective commitment and intention to leave after adjusting for those measures and/or covariates. Factor analysis indicated that most WISH variance reflects a single common factor, supporting the use of an instrument-level score. Unique variance at the influencer level highlights the added value of examining influencer scores.

Conclusions: WISH fills a key gap in healthcare professional well-being improvement science by assessing causal factors of well-being and burnout rather than the conditions themselves. This study established initial validity of this unique inventory and further reinforced the relevance of system-level and cultural factors in influencing healthcare professionals' well-being. WISH is well suited to assist healthcare professional well-being improvement efforts driven by system-improvement mindsets.

Abstract
With increasing gender balance in specialist medical training and employment in Australia, there is a corresponding need to consider how parental leave and subsequent return to work is managed in the workplace. An electronic survey exploring the experiences of pregnancy and return to work following parental leave was distributed by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). The return-to-work component of the survey evaluated parental leave and return-to-work patterns, lactation practices and facilities, supports and resources utilised during the return-to-work process. We report on 391 return-to-work episodes from 219 respondents. One hundred and seventy-two (79%) were specialists at the time of survey completion. Six to 11 months was the most frequent duration of parental leave, and this duration was associated with higher satisfaction levels than shorter durations of leave (odds ratio 5.44, 95% confidence interval 3.18-9.31, P < 0.001). Breastfeeding continued in 246 (63%) return-to-work episodes, and absent or inadequate lactation facilities were reported in 239 (88%). In 227 (58%) return-to-work experiences, respondents received no formal support on returning to work. One hundred and thirty-five (62%) respondents did not utilise any existing return-to-work resources, and family and friends were the main source of support for 113 (52%) respondents. Return-to-work processes should be tailored to meet individual needs. Consistent with existing recommendations, satisfactory lactation facilities must be provided. We recommend that the period of one-to-one supervision be flexible and negotiated, to suit the unique return-to-work trajectory of each worker. Existing ANZCA resources could assist departments in supporting anaesthetists who return to work following parental leave.