More than a free snack: benefits of mobilized resources and socialization for pediatric healthcare workers

Introduction Addressing the burnout epidemic in the healthcare workforce is a primary concern of the modern healthcare organization and recognized across researchers and leaders of nations. This study aims to test whether a mobilized micro-break intervention, the Wellbeing on Wheels (WOW) Cart, improved health care worker (HCW) energy perceived organizational support and work engagement. Methodology This study was conducted at an independent children's hospital in the midwestern United States. Between August and September 2024. A total of 367 pediatric HCWs completed our survey. IBM's SPSS was used to analyze the data using t -tests, ANOVAs, linear regression, and polynomial regression to test our hypotheses and post-hoc analyses. Results The results of this study show that energy ( t = 32.35, p < .01, Cohen's D = 1.33), perceived organizational support ( t = 17.40, p < .01, Cohen's D = .92), and work engagement ( t = 20.56, p < .01, Cohen's D = 1.08) significantly increased following a visit by the WOW Cart. Further, we found that both changes in energy ( β = .44, p < .01) and perceived organizational support ( β = .32, p < .01) predicted increases in work engagement ( R 2 = .35, p < .01). Our post-hoc analyses revealed nurses had a greater energy benefit [( F (2, 276) = 2.96, p < .05] compared to nurse practitioners ( M diff = .82, p < .05) and physicians ( M diff = .55, p < .05), but no difference between job roles for perceived organizational support [( F (3, 281) = .47, p = .71] and work engagement [( F (2, 283) = 1.77, p = .15]. Further, we found an exponential increasing benefit from the degree of change in energy for work engagement (coeff. = .53, t = 2.949, p < .05). Additionally, we found a linearly increasing benefit from the degree of changes in perceived organizational support for work engagement (coeff. = −1.88, t = −4.433, p < .01). Conclusions This study highlights that resource-based micro-breaks may be a viable option for effective HCW well-being intervention. Moreover, interventions can be brought to point-of-care areas. Additional research should determine how long these improvements last.