About the session

Did you know that stress can lead to a range of negative outcomes such as staff anxiety, anger, unethical behaviour, poor decision making, chronic exhaustion and burnout (Zhang et al)?

And if that wasn’t bad enough, high levels of stress are also associated with errors that can harm patient care, and in the acute sector, with higher levels of mortality (Michael West). The problem is; these causes of stress, including staff shortages and stretched services, are not going away anytime soon.

Faced with the constraints health and social care grapples with on a daily basis, staff can find themselves feeling disheartened, overwhelmed, and quite frankly, miserable. This is where the Joy in Work tools and techniques can provide support. The term Joy in Work doesn’t resonate with everyone, but its underlying ethos revolves around creating happier environments for individuals, teams, and organisations. While it isn’t going to solve every problem, it may be able to help.

In this one-hour session, Julia Wood, convener of the Improving Joy in Work Special Interest Group, will delve further into the importance of joy in work, share two approaches which can be used to increase happiness at work, and end by highlighting some quick and simple examples to get you started.