# A Pilot Feasibility and Acceptability Study of a Relational Playbook and Coaching Intervention for Cardiology Teams to Enhance Employee Well-being and Veteran Care

> **NIH VA I21** · VA EASTERN COLORADO HEALTH CARE SYSTEM · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Background: The Veterans Health Administration (VA) is prioritizing employee well-being due to crisis levels of
clinician burnout and turnover. The VA aims to achieve this by becoming a “Best Place to Work” while deliver-
ing high quality, safe and equitable care to Veterans using learning health system (LHS) and high reliability or-
ganization (HRO) principles. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has proposed organizations create
supportive learning environments to improve workforce well-being. However, there is no one-size-fits all solu-
tion. While the VA has invested in system level well-being efforts, including the Reduce Employee Burnout and
Optimize Organizational Thriving (REBOOT) initiative, there is little guidance for teams on how to create sup-
portive learning environments. To fill this gap, we developed The Relational Playbook. The Playbook consists
of research-based resources and 50 evidence-based interventions for nurse managers to implement to change
their team cultures including how to create joy in work and address difficult relationships. To support managers
implementing the Playbook, we propose leadership coaching as a novel implementation strategy.
Significance: The significance of this project is the potential to provide frontline managers with resources and
research-based tools to create supportive learning environments that enhance employee well-being. Addition-
ally, the study will contribute to the fields of implementation, LHS and HRO science and the VA efforts to en-
hance employee well-being and reduce burnout and turnover (2023 VA HSR&D research priorities).
Innovation and Impact: The proposed research is innovative in that it attempts to shift the current paradigm for
the creation of supportive learning environments from an organization-level focus to the team level – where
Veterans receive care. We will partner with VA cardiac catheterization laboratories (CCLs) as a model LHS for
this work. We aim to implement and establish the feasibility and acceptability of the Relational Playbook inter-
vention combined with leadership coaching. Our hypothesis is that enhanced leadership coaching will be a
more feasible and acceptable approach to support Playbook implementation and the cultivation of supportive
learning environments than standard implementation support.
Specific Aims: Aim 1: Test the implementation, feasibility and acceptability of the Playbook intervention, coach-
ing strategy, and study procedures. The VA Collaborative Evaluation Center (VACE), an independent group of
mixed methods experts, will collect the feasibility and acceptability measures developed by Weiner et al. and
select Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (REAIM) measures.
Aim 2: Conduct a mixed methods process evaluation of intervention implementation. VACE will collect inter-
view data to understand 1) intervention adaptations, ease of use, engagement, usefulness, and 2) implementa-
tion speed, costs, barriers, f...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10862160
- **Project number:** 1I21HX003811-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** VA EASTERN COLORADO HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Heather M. Gilmartin
- **Activity code:** I21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10862160

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10862160, A Pilot Feasibility and Acceptability Study of a Relational Playbook and Coaching Intervention for Cardiology Teams to Enhance Employee Well-being and Veteran Care (1I21HX003811-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10862160. Licensed CC0.

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