Ask the expert: Preventing burnout through peer support

Q: What kind of staff training or peer support programs make the biggest difference in preventing burnout before it leads to safety incidents?

Wendi Tillung, RN, senior director of transformation and innovation at Nordic: Tailored, role-specific training makes a real difference. Training that focuses on specialty-specific workflows, templates, and real use cases improves clinician efficiency and confidence when using the electronic health record.

This kind of custom training reduces task time, documentation burden, and frustration. Peer support, including clinician “super users,” mentorship, and low-tech peer check-ins, as well as team activities like group reviews of common workflow challenges or template refinement, all drive culture and give clinicians a sense that their team (not just IT) supports them. Evidence shows that combining focused training with peer validation helps catch early signs of stress and keeps small problems from escalating into safety risks.

Q: How can peer-led support groups or anonymous digital tools help clinicians speak up without fear?

Tillung: Clinicians often hesitate to admit they’re struggling, especially in the moment. Peer-led check-ins—informal huddles or structured support circles—normalize these conversations and create accountability without judgment.

Utilizing peer debriefs is also effective in managing stress responses after a major event. Anonymous tools also provide a back channel for clinicians to flag concerns early, before burnout reaches a breaking point. What’s most effective is when organizations offer both: safe spaces to talk and private tools to be heard.

Editor’s note: This Q&A was excerpted from our Patient Safety Monitor Journal newsletter.