April 2022

Greetings and happy spring everyone!  As the weather has started to bring up our annual flowers in our garden, what annual check have you done lately?  Most of us have our annual medical check-up, our annual eye exam, and our bi-annual dental cleanings and check-ups, but when was the last time you had or have done a mental check-up on yourself?  Most of us probably have not done this at all and it is a real situation that is affecting almost everyone I know here in the healthcare system.  Dealing with the on-going Covid pandemic over the last two years has had us, in the healthcare field, feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated.  We always strive to be our best, but unfortunately too many of us just come to work and start going through the motions.  Our focus has changed and become blurred over the constant stress of trying to give the best care and take care of ourselves.  It leads to emotional exhaustion which then leads to lower patient satisfaction, higher medication errors, higher infections, and unfortunately a higher mortality rate among healthcare systems.  These feelings not only affect work but it also bleeds into our personal lives.  Lower quality of relationships or marital satisfaction, shorter life span, PTSD, personal injury or suicide, depression, and decreased immune system function.  All of this combined can put us over the edge at times while at work and/or at home.  There are ways to overcome the stress fatigue that has been over us 2 years and some change.  First, ask yourself, “How am I doing today?  How has my well-being been lately?”  Start making the time to de-stress and step away from the fast pace of work, the negativity that someone or you maybe expressing (and do not know why), and start slowing your thinking and showing positive emotions daily.  Start every morning writing down or saying 3 things that you are grateful for or 3 things that bring a joyful thought to mind.  You can start doing this 1 day a week, 2-3 times a week, or when it works for you.  Also, take time off from your work site and do something for yourself personally.  Don’t even think about work - take a vacation, work in a garden, or binge on Netflix.  See hope in your daily and future endeavors and make that a priority moving forward.  Hope and positivity in small amounts, does wonders for our emotions, attitude and overall well-being.  Take stock in your well-being and, trust me, you will not regret it for the rest of your life.  Have a great spring and summer! 
In Solidarity