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John Bryan Sexton

Medical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychology
Box 102506, Attn: Duke Center for the Advancement of, Durham, NC 27710
DUMC Box # 102506, Attn: Duke Center for the Advancement of, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Bryan is the Director of the Duke Center for the Advancement of Well-being Science.  He leads the efforts around research, training and coaching, guiding quality improvement and well-being activities.  

A psychologist member of the Department of Psychiatry, Bryan is a psychometrician and spends time developing methods of assessing and improving safety culture, teamwork, leadership and especially work-force well-being.  Currently, he is disseminating the results from a successful NIH R01 grant that used RCTs to show that we can cause enduring improvements in healthcare worker well-being. 

A perpetually recovering father of four, he enjoys running, using hand tools on wood, books on Audible, and hearing particularly good explanations of extremely complicated topics.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Medical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences · 2025 - Present Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Adult Psychiatry & Psychology, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

In the News


Published September 1, 2023
Nearly half of all healthcare workers want to quit
Published December 17, 2022
Brief Sessions of Guided Reflections Improve Health Care Worker Burnout
Published September 29, 2022
Physician burnout has reached distressing levels, new research finds

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Recent Publications


Bite-sized self-compassion: a pilot cohort study of a well-being tool for healthcare workers.

Journal Article Scientific reports · August 2025 Healthcare worker (HCW) well-being is an urgent priority in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Poor worker well-being has been linked to greater turnover, lower quality of care, and higher patient safety risks. Brief, simple tools to increase HCW well-bein ... Full text Cite

"WISER" intervention to reduce healthcare worker burnout - 1 year follow up.

Journal Article Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · December 2024 ObjectiveTest sustainability of Web-based Implementation for the Science of Enhancing Resilience (WISER) intervention efficacy in reducing healthcare worker (HCW) emotional exhaustion (EE), a key component of burnout.DesignOne-year follow ... Full text Cite

Well-Being Outcomes of Health Care Workers After a 5-Hour Continuing Education Intervention: The WELL-B Randomized Clinical Trial.

Journal Article JAMA network open · September 2024 ImportanceCompromised well-being in health care workers (HCWs) is detrimental to the workforce, organizations, and patients.ObjectiveTo test the effectiveness of Well-Being Essentials for Learning Life-Balance (WELL-B), a web-based contin ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Duke Well-being Essentials Program for the Current and Future Health Workforce

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Health Resources and Service Administration · 2022 - 2025

The WISER NICU Study

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Stanford University · 2015 - 2020

Implementation of a Safety Program in Guatemala

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2020

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Texas, Austin · 2002 Ph.D.