JULIE HAIZLIP: One of my students
that recently graduated made this for me.
On the back, she actually has fragments of a conversation
that she and I had.
I think I'll cry if I read it.
Mattering is about having the opportunity to both add value
and feel valued.
It's a little bit more than belonging,
because it's also about contributing.
It's a little bit more than meaning,
because it's also about the feeling
that you're getting from others.
NATALIE MAY: That idea keeps you there.
Just when you're thinking, I'm not making a difference,
this is too hard, something happens
that you remember-- this is why I'm doing this.
JULIE HAIZLIP: From the research that we're doing,
the people who report a higher sense of mattering
also report a lower sense of burnout, and vise versa.
If we feel like we matter as caretakers,
we're going to be more invested in making
sure our patients feel like they matter.
First, what we did was we interviewed those students,
asking them specifically, what has
made you feel like you matter in your educational experience?
Can you point us toward some of the people who
really have done that for you--
those exemplars?
They're very intentional about how
they interact with students.
They go out of their way to learn their students' names,
to learn something about their students as a person,
as opposed to just them in the student role.
For example, our Dean of Students--
she makes our students feel at home in the school.
And it's extraordinary.
And you can tell that that's what she is here to do.
Once you've had a situation where you really
feel like you've mattered, where you've contributed,
and you have felt valued for your contribution,
you want to feel that again and again and again.
The people who are reporting that they matter
are also reporting less burnout.
And the people who are burnout are the ones
who are likely to leave.
And so I think if we are creating
professional satisfaction, it follows
that we are also probably creating career longevity.
NATALIE MAY: What's been really interesting to all of us
on the research team is students need and desire and just
passion to contribute.
It's when they're engaged, and when
they're working and stretching themselves,
that the learning and growing is happening.
We heard over and over again from nursing
and medical students that they really
feel like they matter when they're contributing.
JULIE HAIZLIP: Thinking about mattering and being
very intentional about mattering is so important right
now, because we've spent the past two and 1/2 years really
separated from one another.
We've collectively lost a lot of our sense of community.
And it turns out that those interpersonal connections
are really quite important.
And it's not to say that you can't matter over Zoom.
I think you can.
But I think we are longing for connection right now.
And one of the ways that we can fundamentally connect
is by showing one another that we matter.