{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T14:10:24Z","timestamp":1792159824598,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]],"date-time":"2025-10-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760313600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Healthcare workers\u2019 (HCWs) wellness is a critical concern, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff Wellness Rounding (SWR) has emerged as a leadership-driven strategy to support HCWs but research on its effectiveness remains limited. This study examines the impact of SWR within a large healthcare organisation in Australia and introduces the CALM (Conversation, Active Listening, Leadership Engagement, Mechanism for Feedback) Framework to enhance leadership-driven wellness initiatives. SWR was implemented across six acute hospitals and 14 community health centres in New South Wales, Australia (July to October 2021). A sequential mixed-methods design was used to evaluate SWR effectiveness, leadership engagement, and key components for a structured wellness approach. Phase One included a survey of 169 HCWs to capture their experiences, and Phase Two and Three comprised semi-structured interviews with SWR leaders, participants of SWR and analysis of 342 SWR records. Findings showed that informal conversations foster trust, active listening supports emotional well-being, and leadership engagement facilitates issue escalation. However, feedback mechanisms require improvement: 77.5% of HCWs felt able to escalate concerns but only 32.5% believed feedback was effectively addressed. These insights directly informed the development of the CALM Framework with implications for leadership training and digital wellness integration in healthcare settings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22101558","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T05:48:21Z","timestamp":1760420901000},"page":"1558","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Using Conversations, Listening and Leadership to Support Staff Wellness: The CALM Framework"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Usman","family":"Iqbal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4226, Australia"},{"name":"Evidence-Based Practice Professorial Unit (EBPPU), Gold Coast Hospital & Health Service (GCHHS), Gold Coast, QLD 4215, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natalie","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2033, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robyn","family":"Taylor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2033, Australia"},{"name":"UNSW Clinical Office, Liverpool Hospital (SWSLHD), Sydney, NSW 2170, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Louise","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health Unit, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Locked Bag 7279, Liverpool, NSW 1871, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6226-3314","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Friedbert","family":"Kohler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"297","DOI":"10.1071\/AH20203","article-title":"Psychological well-being of Australian hospital clinical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"45","author":"Holton","year":"2020","journal-title":"Aust. 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