Why is it important to understand stress and how it can affect professionals in healthcare?
Work stress can lead to poor mental and physical health. Mental health includes a person's psychological, emotional, and social well-being and affects how we feel, think, and act. NIOSH is well-positioned to address the mental health of health workers due to: An extensive cross-disciplinary research portfolio.
https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/covid-pandemic-healthcare-burnout-providers-quit-jobs/634946/
I am continually transforming as my life unfolds. I began this journey in 2016 and continue to evolve toward my destiny. I began wide open to anyone seeking support based on my profession in that I never know who comes through the door. I have the capacity to work with anyone based on my career path. However, taking some time to reflect directed me to step back from my wellness coaching endeavor and truly consider what populations need support now. It seems so simple because I am one of the groups, the healthcare workforce, specifically ancillary and nursing staff and middle-aged females in between life chapters. I am driven to age well and committed to supporting others on the same path!
The healthcare workforce is strained noted by staffing issues as a result of early or planned retirement, staff members just leaving their professions completely to seek alternative, satisfying work amid such pressure on the system. You can see the impact in an article from the CDC in 2022 regarding the numbers who have left the network caring for people in our country.
When we speak to others regarding our distinct stressors, some may not understand the complexity of healthcare and what we must handle day to day. A recent article in Healthcare Dive listed the topics we know that others simply do not realize. I am in the trenches with you but unlike my younger, perfection seeking self, I no longer take everything on and decide I must solve the issues I am expected to heal. I do, however, check in with my heart, change my reaction and approach to what is before me and decide how to remain healthy in the process as I continue to serve others. After all, we cannot do anything if we fall to illness too. It is difficult to remain positive in our settings of heightened expectations.
Early in my career, I saw many miracles of recovery and triumph, however, now I am viewing very ill people who have been in a chronic state of disease leading them to a long slow battle back to some form of better health. Knowing we cannot repair everyone is hard on us. We are service personalities and expect our processes to restore individuals no matter how serious the illness, and sometimes they cannot. I am a team player at work and collaborate well with all services. I thrive on communication!
Do you have a desire to further explore your capacity to deal with the day to day in a joyful manner and optimize your well-being in the process? I am here.