CWHP-A Reflections: Unit WWC00

I have learned so many things throughout this unit. Being a nurse, I thought I knew what wellness was all about, however, as my learning progressed, I realized that it’s not just about activities in the workplace and health promotion but that it involves so much more. I never thought it was about organizational culture and performance but now I can clearly see the link. Without leadership buy-in, very little can be done to change the culture or support a wellness strategy in the workplace, especially if budget and resources are not allocated. I understand now that workplace health and performance does not rely on a few members that sit on a wellness committee but the entire organization sharing the responsibility. Buy-in from all managers is also very important to have an impact throughout the organization. Now I understand that to be successful, there must be a strategy in place with clear measurable objectives integrated with business practices. It’s clear to me now that changes take time and improvement of performance and lost time can be expected between two to four years and up to one year for behaviour change and productivity. It can also be much longer depending on the strategy in place and the efforts that are put in by every stakeholder. I will share what I have learned with the members of our committee and hopefully with all members of the leadership to increase awareness and knowledge and slowly improve our organization’s health and performance for the benefit of everyone.