Dr. Nanci Murphy, a pharmacist and retired Associate Dean at the University of Washington, and Dr. Tricia Cheung, a Pharmacist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA, discuss the concept of ikigai, which translates to “reason for being.” They help healthcare professionals stay connected to the reason they entered the field of healthcare and to find strong connections to other members of their healthcare communities. Listen to learn more about how Dr. Murphy and Dr. Cheung use the teachings of ikigai to bring healthcare teams together through joyful, community-building activities.
“Finding Joy: The Health Care Professional’s Journey to Well-being" is a podcast resource developed by a team of interprofessional education researchers from Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane. They’re promoting well-being among students, faculty, and healthcare professionals during challenging times. Funding is provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
The Interprofessional Education Research team wishes to thank the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to this project:
• Dr. Barb Richardson, nurse, educator, and interprofessional champion;
• Cameron Cupp, creator of the “Finding Joy” musical score and current enrollee at WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine;
• Washington State University staff from Marketing and Communications, Financial Services, and the Collaboration for Interprofessional Health Education Research and Scholarship; and
• Claire Martin-Tellis, Executive Producer, and Solen Aref, student intern, who developed the first five episodes of the “Finding Joy” podcast.
This episode of “Finding Joy” was produced by Doug Nadvornick, Program Director, Spokane Public Radio.
If you would like to reach out, please contact our team by sending an email to: medicine.ipoc@wsu.edu We also encourage you to visit our podcast blog as well as our team's website at: https://opioideducation.wsu.edu/about/.
Dr. Nanci Murphy, a pharmacist and retired Associate Dean at the University of Washington, and Dr. Tricia Cheung, a Pharmacist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA, discuss the concept of ikigai, which translates to “reason for being.” They help healthcare professionals stay connected to the reason they entered the field of healthcare and to find strong connections to other members of their healthcare communities. Listen to learn more about how Dr. Murphy and Dr. Cheung use the teachings of ikigai to bring healthcare teams together through joyful, community-building activities.
“Finding Joy: The Health Care Professional’s Journey to Well-being" is a podcast resource developed by a team of interprofessional education researchers from Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane. They’re promoting well-being among students, faculty, and healthcare professionals during challenging times. Funding is provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
The Interprofessional Education Research team wishes to thank the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to this project:
• Dr. Barb Richardson, nurse, educator, and interprofessional champion;
• Cameron Cupp, creator of the “Finding Joy” musical score and current enrollee at WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine;
• Washington State University staff from Marketing and Communications, Financial Services, and the Collaboration for Interprofessional Health Education Research and Scholarship; and
• Claire Martin-Tellis, Executive Producer, and Solen Aref, student intern, who developed the first five episodes of the “Finding Joy” podcast.
This episode of “Finding Joy” was produced by Doug Nadvornick, Program Director, Spokane Public Radio.
If you would like to reach out, please contact our team by sending an email to: medicine.ipoc@wsu.edu We also encourage you to visit our podcast blog as well as our team's website at: https://opioideducation.wsu.edu/about/.
Finding Joy podcast 13: Nanci Murphy and Tricia Cheung: Ikigai and workplace burnout
This is “Finding Joy: The Health Care Professional’s Journey to Well-being.” It’s a podcast resource developed by a team of interprofessional education researchers from Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane. They’re promoting well-being among students, faculty, and healthcare professionals during challenging times. Funding is provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
[theme music]
I’m Doug Nadvornick.
Today we’re going to explore a Japanese concept called ‘ikigai,’ translated as ‘reason for being.’ For some it’s a philosophy that guides the way they think and act. We’ll also talk about burnout in the health care workplace and how our guests managed it.
With us are Nanci Murphy, a pharmacist by profession and a retired associate dean at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, and Tricia Cheung, who is a pharmacist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.
Tricia Cheung: “So Nanci actually was my professor and then she later became a really great mentor. She mentored me, along with a couple of my other classmates, and worked with us really closely just because we were all really interested in community outreach and serving underserved populations. She was sort of our advisor and just kind of guided us along and really helped us plan events and organize and work with these populations and sort of develop programs with them and work in the community.”
Doug: “So our podcast is called Finding Joy and we're here to talk about a concept called ikigai, which is, I guess one way of helping people find joy in their lives. Could one of you tell me about what ikigai is all about?”
Nanci Murphy: “Ikigai has been described as your life’s purpose, being true to your interests and strengths and living a life of consequence in meeting the needs of others. My grandparents and parents were my first role models of ikigai, who withstood many hardships in their lives, but yet raised us with optimism and hope. My grandsons are also great teachers. They show me the importance of living in the moment each day, to appreciate the little things, to be in awe of learning and nature and to forge forward with curiosity and enthusiasm and gusto.”
Doug: “How do you practice it every day? Is it just more of an attitude about life? Is it something that's closer to meditation? How does it work in your life?”
Nanci Murphy: “Ikigai in my professional life was centered on my work both in health care and academia. I think many of us were drawn to the health professions because we wanted to help people towards well being and so one of the things I wanted to share during today’s podcast was a letter written by a patient’s wife to a husband’s surgeon. It was titled ‘I Never Said Thank You,’ and it was a very moving letter, describing an emergency health event in her husband’s life and the life-reaching impact of the care and caring provided. The author had just had a baby and couldn’t imagine her life without her husband. She wrote this letter 12 years later because she has never forgotten this surgeon for not only saving her husband’s life, but for the compassion shown to her during such a stressful time. She describes the special moments she has witnessed between her husband and now two sons throughout the years. The author thinks of the surgeon as integral to this joy and celebrates him every year.”
Nanci Murphy: “I think Surgeon General Murthy once said, ‘Medicine and technology may fail, but human connection grounded in love and compassion always heals. And I wanted people to know during the pandemic, through the long hours, the lack of people to help, the isolation, we’ve lost some of this connectedness. But even though you may not always hear about it, I want them to know the enduring importance and impact of what you do. I used to be on the admissions committee and was told many times by the applicants how particular health care providers’ actions influenced their decision to pursue a health career. The impact of what you do every day creates a ripple effect that affects many others, through many ways through time that you may not even realize.’”
Doug: “Tricia, how does ikigai work in your life?”
Tricia Cheung: “A big challenge for me was just this idea of health care burnout, which you probably have heard. My whole pharmacy department, actually, has been experiencing the same as well. I really had to take the time to self reflect and rediscover what really brings joy in me in my own life, this idea of ikigai. Similarly to Nanci, my own personal joy comes from the desire to help people, specifically by spreading joy and happiness to others. And, in this case, my colleagues and I, we were inspired to form a spirit committee for our department where our mission was to provide celebration and facilitate connections, just provide a more joyful work environment.”
Tricia Cheung: “So, as a result, we planned various activities for the staff. We had ice cream socials. We did secret Santa. We hosted baby showers, work anniversary celebrations, retirement parties, and staff awards and achievements. It’s funny because it’s Pharmacy Week right now and we usually do a lot of food and games and prizes and every year we try to make an extra effort to incorporate a get-to-know-you trivia game. A popular one that we do is where a person would share two true facts about themselves as well as one false statement and people have to guess which one is which and it’s a really great way for everyone to get to know each other. Even after all these years I’m still learning some fun things about my co-workers that I didn’t know about.”
Tricia Cheung: “In addition to this we also plan events outside of the pharmacy. We usually will do a barbecue bonfire, which everybody usually enjoys. I do remember one of the most memorable ones is one that we did for Valentine's Day several years ago, I, along with the rest of the spirit committee, had made these little heart-shaped treat bags and attached them to every staff member’s locker and they were personalized with their name and I just remember what was so meaningful about this event particularly was when one of my co-workers came up to me and she just expressed gratitude and said how much it made her day and it truly made her feel special and that moment means a lot to me. It reminds me of a quote from Dr. Seuss: "To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world." And it’s just this idea that everyone has the power to impact someone else's day or their life, for the better, whether or not you’re aware of it, which is very much like Nanci’s story, where she mentioned the 'I forgot to say thank you.' So this is what truly brings me joy and what inspires me to continue with this work. And I think what also I find so rewarding and encouraging about this whole experience is when my manager actually shared with me that individuals from another pharmacy department had actually developed their own quote-unquote "Happiness Committee" after they heard about the work we were doing for our staff. I that is just very inspiring and very exciting for me to hear.”
Doug: “Has that helped tangibly with the burnout among your staff?”
Tricia Cheung: “I would say it has and, whether or not I’m aware of it or not, with Covid and everything, it definitely has made things challenging, just because we had lots of sick calls and people are working extra hours and working doubles and so people are visibly very tired. But I want to say yes. They have expressed to me such gratitude and even just seeing a smile on their face, you can tell that it made their day and so, yeah.”
Doug: “Was burnout a problem before Covid in the circles that you run in?
Tricia Cheung: “I feel like, after Covid, it only seemed like burnout was more talked about, maybe because it was maybe more ok. That’s kind of how I felt about it. It was more ok to talk about, in terms of burnout, especially in health care. I even noticed it more so just the fact that my organization that I work for that we are seeing more and more emails about mental health resources and, you know, if you need to talk to somebody, they do provide information and outlets for you to discuss whatever you need to to help manage with burnout. I want to say it sounds like it’s more prevalent, but at the same time, I feel like maybe it is because people feel more, like, it’s more acceptable to speak about it.”
Doug: “Do you think that's permanent? We're two and a half years into this thing, and once things get back to normal, are we gonna forget about burnout at the workplace? And we'll go back to where we were maybe five, 10 years ago where supervisors are not paying any attention to it because they're getting pressure to, you know, you, you're getting more patients. We gotta take care of the patients, we need you to work, we need you to work, we need you to work.”
Tricia Cheung: “I mean, I hope it’s not the case. It’s hard to say right at this point in time. I think that with the right resources out there, I’m just hoping that we can continue to sort of encourage and promote a healthier work environment and a better work-life balance. So I hope that it stays going in this more positive direction.”
Doug: “Was there anything I didn’t ask about or we didn’t touch on or anything you wanted to touch on before we finish?”
Nanci Murphy: “I think discussing why connection is so important. I would say that it helps build the shared identity, shared understanding and empathy. It improves wellbeing. It encourages strategic planning, quality of decision making. Everyone moving in the same direction. So it not only improves your performance, but the team’s performance.”
Doug: We go back now to the founding theme of this podcast, how and where do we find joy, for ourselves and for others. This is Nanci Murphy.
Nanci Murphy: “For students, we tried to offer multiple opportunities to have them become in opportunities that help reinforce their sense of purpose and joy in choosing a health career. I think community outreach like Patricia mentioned was one of our favorites because it gave them a chance to interact with the patients in the community. Faculty and staff were given training on how to recognize signs of stress and burnout so early intervention could be given too. And then we gave the students a strong voice in determining ways we could improve our services. Their ideas that they came up with, such as the diversity and talent show, creating a wellness challenge website, and Spirit Week, were very successful. They also made suggestions to the schedule, for example, our all-student hour and the exam schedule that benefited their peers. There were also courses and topics introduced into the curriculum, such as interprofessional electives that focused on mind and body wellness. So those are just some of the things that we tried to do to help promote joy.”
Nanci Murphy: “There are a lot of strategies that have been developed and, thankfully, the surgeon general has considered this a priority and developed a report that I think we’re going to have attached to the podcast. Many of the associations have a developing program on burnout and resilience, compassion fatigue and those kinds of things that I’m really glad to see happening. But I think that the important thing is to realize that your connection to work is very important, as far as, not only the people, but the organization and the community. Making sure that we look into that and support that is really important.”
Doug: “For folks who are thinking about burnout at work and they're worried about, could our company do more, can you give people advice for maybe how they could get their supervisors and others, um, to pay more attention to the idea of burnout?”
Tricia Cheung: “For me, I was hesitant at first to approach management. So first of all, I guess just expressing that burnout is sort of a problem just because, you know, it affects attendance and sick calls and that sort of thing. I think even just expressing that it is a concern among the employees and then just starting from there and letting them know that maybe there could be areas of improvement that help with the morale in just sort of the workplace happiness.”
That’s Tricia Cheung, a pharmacist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. We also talked with Nanci Murphy, a retired associate dean at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy.
[theme music]
We thank them for participating. And we thank the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to this project:
• Dr. Barb Richardson, nurse, educator, and interprofessional champion;
• Cameron Cupp, creator of the “Finding Joy” musical score and current enrollee at WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine;
• Washington State University staff from Marketing and Communications, Financial Services, and the Collaboration for Interprofessional Health Education Research and Scholarship; and
• Claire Martin-Tellis, the original executive producer of the podcast, and student intern Solen Aref. They developed the first five episodes of “Finding Joy.”
This episode was produced by Doug Nadvornick.
If you are interested in sharing your perspective about well-being as a healthcare professional or would like to reach out, please contact our team by sending an email to: medicine.ipoc@wsu.edu. We encourage you to visit our website at: https://opioideducation.wsu.edu/about/.