Authors: Lindsay Weiss, MD (1), Mary Edmond, PhD (2), Sarah Varghese, MD (3) and Anthony Cooley, MD (3)
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Abstract
Introduction: To combat resident physician burnout, wellness programming should include approaches that foster joy to work as a physician. Photograph trading cards have been used to improve patient satisfaction but have not been explored as a way to improve physician work satisfaction. We aimed to use trading cards to improve resident physician identification by patients’ families, as well as measure their effect on the hospital experience for patients and residents.
Methods: For a one-month period in 2019, trading cards were piloted with the nine residents assigned to the inpatient pediatrics service. Employing five-point Likert scales, surveys were administered to residents and convenience samples of 100 patients’ families before and after card distribution.
Results: Compared to families prior, those given trading cards reported increased perceived importance of physician identification and a greater association with care satisfaction. Families’ ability to identify treating physicians increased from 5% to 66% with card distribution (p<0.0001). All 9 residents participated (100% response rate). With the aid of this intervention, all residents either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that they were better recognized as the physician. One hundred percent of residents “strongly agreed” or “agreed” with the statement “I find joy at work,” compared to 77% prior to intervention. At project completion, 88% either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” trading cards improved work satisfaction. After using trading cards, residents articulated expressions of empowerment to deliver better care, enhancement of physician-patient communication, and improvement of patient experiences.
Conclusion: Trading cards can be used as a tool to improve resident physician work satisfaction and joy in medicine, while also improving the hospital experience for patients and families.
Affiliation:
- Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital
- Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University