Connection and Resilience: Using Interviews to Support Hospitalist Well-Being During COVID-19

Abstract

Hospitalist teams have been on the frontlines in caring for patients with SARS-CoV-2. The uncertainties in caring for patients infected with the virus, rapidly changing clinical practice models and policies, surging patient volumes, and the isolation required for safe patient care, have placed unusually high stress on hospitalists. Well-being efforts aimed at supporting these teams have been critical to maintaining hospitalist resilience; however, despite intense scrutiny, little is known about the best methods to support the well-being of frontline hospitalists during this unprecedented and highly stressful time, a situation exacerbated by the severe limitations on social interactions. The authors engaged in an innovative endeavor at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, to improve connections among hospitalists, even in the face of these limitations.