Abstract
The well-being of residents, our future medical specialists, is not only beneficial to the individual physician but also conditional for delivering high-quality patient care. Therefore, the authors further explored how residents experience their own well-being in relation to their professional and personal life. The authors conducted a qualitative study based on a phenomenological approach. From June to October 2013, 13 in-depth interviews were conducted with residents in various training programs using a semi-structured interview guide to explore participants’ experience of their well-being in relation to their professional life. The data were collected and analyzed through an iterative process using the thematic network approach. Effort–reward balance and perceived autonomy were dominant overarching experiences in influencing residents’ well-being. Experiencing sufficient autonomy was important in residents’ roles as caregivers, as learners and in their personal lives. The experienced effort–reward balance could both positively and negatively influence well-being. We found two categories of ways that influence residents’ experience of well-being; (1) professional lives: delivering patient care, participating in teamwork, learning at the workplace and dealing with the organization and (2) personal lives: dealing with personal characteristics and balancing work–life. In residents’ well-being experiences, the effort–reward balance and perceived autonomy are crucial. Additionally, ways that influence residents’ well-being are identified in both their professional and personal lives. These dominant experiences and ways that influence well-being could be key factors for interventions and residency training adaptations for enhancing residents’ well-being.
Highlights
Residents’ well-being is crucial in health care
The well-being of residents, our future medical specialists, is beneficial to the individual physician but is a condition for delivering high-quality patient care (Wallace et al 2009; Prins et al 2009; Scheepers et al 2015)
The research question leading this study is: how do residents experience their own wellbeing in relation to their professional life? With this study we aim to add to the existing body of knowledge of residents’ well-being for the purpose of delivering high-quality care
Summary
Residents’ well-being is crucial in health care. The well-being of residents, our future medical specialists, is beneficial to the individual physician but is a condition for delivering high-quality patient care (Wallace et al 2009; Prins et al 2009; Scheepers et al 2015). Wallace uses the term wellness and describes this as “the complex and multifaceted nature of physicians’ physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing” (Wallace et al 2009). He captures the positive side of being well and includes being challenged, thriving and achieving success in various aspects of personal and professional life. Various studies have shown that residents who report higher levels of well-being make fewer medical errors, deliver less suboptimal patient care and achieve higher patient satisfaction levels (Prins et al 2009; Kim et al 2004; Williams et al 2007). In a systematic review of Scheepers et al it was confirmed that physicians’ occupational well-being, including residents’ well-being, could contribute to better patient satisfaction and interpersonal aspects of patient care (Scheepers et al 2015)
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