Co‐Discovery of Workforce Wellness: Flourishing Through Aesthetic Engagement in a Canadian Healthcare Organization

Healthcare systems continue to face significant workforce challenges that threaten staff well-being, retention, and quality of care. Workforce wellness is increasingly recognized as essential to sustaining a stable and engaged healthcare workforce, yet it is frequently addressed as an individual concern rather than as an organizational, relational, and system-level phenomenon. A qualitative descriptive design with complementary arts-informed engagement examined how staff experience workforce wellness and how organizational environments shape well-being within a Canadian healthcare organization. The final analytic sample included 13 staff members representing diverse organizational roles. Participants submitted a written narrative and a self-chosen aesthetic expression representing what wellness at work meant to them. Written narratives were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, while aesthetic expressions functioned as reflective prompts and knowledge-sharing outputs rather than formal analytic data. Six interconnected themes were identified: psychological safety in a connected community, empowerment through creative expression, culturally inclusive wellness, holistic work-life balance, flexible and supportive environments, and active growth. Together, the themes position workforce wellness as a relational, emotional, and collective phenomenon shaped by leadership practices, organizational culture, and enabling systems, conceptualized as an integrated workforce wellness ecosystem. Findings translate staff experiences into system-level opportunities, including psychological safety practices, flexible work design, culturally inclusive supports, creative engagement, protected recovery, and growth-oriented leadership. Co-design with the organization's Wellness Committee and EDI Council ensured the research asked and addressed questions meaningful to knowledge users.