PROFESSOR SABE SABESAN Senior Medical Oncologist and Clinical Dean at the Townsville Hospital and Health Service and James Cook University
DR CHRISTOPHER STEER Senior Medical Oncologist, Border Medical Oncology, Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre and Senior Lecturer, UNSW Rural Clinical School, Albury Campus
Values aligned organisational culture as the foundation for workforce wellness Is it a pipe dream?
“We feel optimistic that sustainable system solutions can be implemented since many organisations and government departments have chosen their values and purposes and are endeavouring to adhere to them.”
Workforce wellness and engagement have become
Moral injury is increasingly considered to be a
buzzwords in healthcare settings since there is an
central tenent to disrupting workforce wellness.
intimate relationship between staff wellbeing and
Moral injury refers to the psychological, social,
performance of the healthcare system. Wellness
and spiritual impact of events involving betrayal or
initiatives such as wellness champions and wellness
transgression of one’s own deeply held moral beliefs
committees have been set up in response to
and values occurring in high stakes situations. In the
emerging workforce mental health issues. These
context of healthcare, staff may face situations that
are largely reactive rather than being proactive in
do not allow them to deliver care in the way they
addressing or preventing the root cause of mental
have been trained (that is, to help people and do no
health issues.
harm), or staff may observe contradictions between
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The Health Advocate • AUGUST 2021
