‘How To’ – Wellness Charter
In 2019, WRaP EM, would like to enable each workplace to move the conversation from optimising individual wellness to real Departmental and Organisational level change.
We have written this ‘How To’ so it can be used in conjunction with other ‘How To’ piece on WRaP EM to enable that Departmental Level change where you work.
The key to a Wellness Charter is to develop it in conjunction with your colleagues and to get your Senior Staff to endorse the Charter prior to its launch.
What this a Wellness Charter, you might ask?
- This is a short statement for outlining your departments’ wellness strategy.
- The key with this project is to engage your senior ED management to help create a shared vision.
- It is about starting a conversation, whether you have an established wellness program or not.
- It is about getting senior management support and endorsement of your wellness program.
- The best way to do this is to ask them to sign the charter – or better yet get them to develop it with your team.
Perhaps a way to look at this Charter is a statement which encompasses the following themes
- This is what we want in our Department, for our Staff, to help them stay well and give excellent patient care.
Or
- This is the Department that I want to work in and why
We would like to suggest that you would have a Charter in place by Wellness Week 2019 -April 7th to the 14th
That way, any Wellness Week activities that you engage with, can occur as evidence that your Charter is more than just words, that you also about creating sustainable change.
What a Wellness Charter is not?
- Not a global panacea for every issue in your department.
- Not a one size fits all department.
- This statement may evolve with time, just like Departments needs and issues change over time too.
Step Wise Guide
Normally in our ‘How To’ pieces, what follows on from here, is a step wise approach as to how to do the task outlined in the How To!
However, the core content and length of eachwellness charters will vary greatly, across each Department.
So instead, for some benchmarking rather than a prescriptive guide, here are two of the first Emergency Department Wellness Charters in Queensland.
Good Luck!
QEII WELLNESS CHARTER
The grass is greener where you water it.
The QE II ED Senior Staff and Wellness Interest Group aims to ensure all ED staff feel supported, valued and well at work.
We recognise that working in our 24/7 ED is demanding – physically, mentally and emotionally. Fortunately, it’s also a very rewarding place to work.
To find balance within the above work environment, we each need to learn to prioritise our own self-care and self-respect.
Prioritising our own self-care will help us to be healthy, happy and productive as individuals. As a group of healthy, respectful and productive individuals, we then have the ability to form a cohesive, engaged and powerful ED team for our colleagues and our patients alike.
GCH ED Wellness Charter
Gold Coast Health Emergency Departments undertake to make conversations around struggle and wellness normal and acceptable – so that staff feel safe to voice what is challenging and rewarding about their work; staff feel confident that they will be heard, understood and validated; and staff will feel supported and nurtured to thrive.
Encouraging staff to bring their heart into their work requires an environment and culture that invites the whole self into the workplace.
oneED encourages the sharing of experiences, positive and difficult; to make the statement “I’ve been there”; and to make explicit the acceptance that some days (or longer) will be challenging. As such, it is intended that we will build and deepen connection between staff, that we will create a sense of belonging, and that no one will either struggle or celebrate alone.
WRaP EM 