Using a Culture Committee to Improve and Maintain a Positive Workplace Environment During a Pandemic.

ABSTRACT

Workplace culture is often overlooked in interventions to improve the delivery of health care efficiency. Burnout and employee morale have been longstanding issues in health care and can negatively affect both provider and patient health. To address employee wellness and promote department unity, a culture committee was established within a radiation oncology department. After the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout and social isolation among health care workers have increased substantially, affecting job performance and stress levels. This report revisits the efficacy of a workplace culture committee 5 years after its establishment, while also outlining its role during the pandemic and in the transition to a peripandemic workplace. The initiation of a culture committee has been pivotal to identifying and improving workplace stressors that may enable burnout. We suggest health care environments implement initiatives that encompass tangible and actionable solutions to feedback provided by employees.