As healthcare organizations search for antidotes to today’s emotional epidemics of exhaustion and burnout among caregivers, some leaders and professional associations are focusing on an interesting remedy: gratitude.
Gratitude manifests in diverse ways. It can be a character trait, or a person’s general tendency to have a grateful disposition. Sometimes gratitude is a mood – it can change depending on the events and situations of the day. It can be an emotion, a fleeting feeling experienced after receiving a compliment or a favor from someone. It can be a polite response taught by the same mothers who raised us to write thank you notes for birthday presents and bought trinkets of appreciation for us to take to our teachers before the winter holiday break.
What recent research is saying about gratitude is that it is a game changer when it comes to overall well-being in the workplace. Studies cited by the American Nurses Foundation and Greater Good Science Center at University of California, Berkeley in its “Gratitude Practice for Nurses Implementation Guide” indicates recognizing, appreciating and giving thanks for positive moments can be “a healing balm that provides a host of benefits for our minds, bodies and relationships.”
The research shows grateful people:
- • Report higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction—in one study, grateful people were 25 percent happier than the other study participants.
- • Are more resilient to stress.
- • Get along better with others.
- • Are less depressed.
- • Achieve more.
- • Are more helpful and generous.
More specific to healthcare settings, research reveals gratitude can reduce stress and depression among providers and lead to improved productivity and quality of patient support.
The focus on gratitude’s impact in healthcare is timely and relevant, as it becomes increasingly evident that civility in workplace culture has a definitive effect on retention, job satisfaction and patient safety. An interesting compilation of gratitude research by Giskin Day, Glenn Robert and Anne Marie Rafferty can be found at the NIH’s National Library of Medicine. Google “Gratitude in Healthcare: A Meta-Narrative Review.”
Nearly half of U.S. physicians feel burnt out, according to Medscape’s 2022 Physician Lifestyle Report. The survey defines burnout as feelings of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion; frustration or cynicism about work; and doubts about the value of one’s work. Burnout impacts patients, too, since doctors who are burned out are less engaged with patients and more likely to make mistakes.
And, according to Forbes, “four in five employees (81%) report they are motivated to work harder when their boss shows appreciation for their work. When gratitude becomes a regular organizational practice, employees will feel both appreciated and valued, and their productivity and engagement will increase by leaps and bounds.”
Here’s the challenge: Past research found people are least likely to express gratitude at work than anywhere else.
What to do about it? Start simple, with the tactic Mama taught you. Write a thank you note. Be specific; describe what that other person did for you. Acknowledge the effort their action required and the admirable quality their efforts exemplify. Explain how their actions helped or benefitted you. Sign it, seal it in an envelope and take it to the person. Even better, if you have access to their home address, mail it. Let their family members see how important their loved one is to the organization where they work.
When people are part of a culture of gratitude in their organization, they feel better about their jobs.
“Understanding how gratitude works has transformed the way I experience my work as a healthcare provider,” wrote Leif Hass, M.D., a family medicine doctor and hospitalist in Oakland, Calif., in UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine.
Haas conceded misconceptions about gratitude abound. “When I mention gratitude to my colleagues, I often hear, ‘I sure wish that more of my patients were grateful for all I do.’”
Without question, physicians do important work that helps patients, but it goes both ways, according to Hass. Caring for patients, meeting their families and witnessing patients’ lives, struggles and healing is “a profound privilege and a gift,” he wrote. “These gifts can be missed if we don’t take the time to recognize them.”
The gift of gratitude: It costs the giver a moment in time and a few intentional words, but the impact on the recipient lingers like an indelible handprint on the heart. The greatest return on investment goes to the one humble enough to recognize they need others to be successful with their patients.
-J.R. Labbe, CEC, is partner/Chief Communications Officer for CSE Leadership, LLC.