Offering Wellness Recovery Services in the Workplace
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world, not least of which has been in the healthcare sector. Healthcare workers, feeling burnout and underappreciation, have been leaving the industry at an alarming rate. However, as you can see, this lack of wellness and burnout is not solely linked to the pandemic.
Unfortunately, burnout has long been understood and accepted liability in the healthcare field. But this does not have to be so. There are wellness tools and techniques that can help mitigate healthcare worker burnout, ensure a positive work environment, and provide the best-continued care for your clients.
While it can be fulfilling to help a patient prepare to manage their recovery needs, constantly putting someone else's health needs first can be detrimental to your health. Instead, healthcare professionals must practice self-care and utilize professional resources to ensure they feel mentally and physically healthy.
Remember, burnout does not have to be part of the job; there are ways to avoid, mitigate, and manage it effectively. You and your staff deserve to be at your best, as do your clients.
Self-Care: "Putting Your Oxygen Mask on First"
There is a reason that the spiel at the beginning of a flight tells you to put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others. You can do little good for anyone around you if you are also struggling to breathe.
Let us take this "mask" analogy into the healthcare workplace. How are you going to be able to assist anyone with their emotional, mental, or physical needs if you are struggling with your own? Quite simply, you can't. Well, you can't be as effective as you could. But that little bit can make all the difference in helping someone get better in the healthcare field.
You and your employees must manage your own needs before you can best meet the needs of others. However, it can be challenging for those working in the busy healthcare industry to find time even to recognize that burnout is happening.
Recognizing Signs of Burnout
Just as it can be critical for those in recovery first to recognize they have a problem before addressing it, so must you recognize burnout before taking action.
Here are some signs that you or your employees may be experiencing burnout at work:
You have become cynical or overly critical at work
You are becoming more and more impatient with co-workers and clients
You have trouble getting motivated to go to work and staying motivated while at work
You often feel lethargic or lackadaisical at work
You have trouble concentrating on something for the needed amount of time
These are just a few signs of burnout, but what do you do if you recognize some of them in yourself or your staff? Like in recovery, the next two steps are to accept and take action.
Learning to "Pause" for Wellness
If you or your employees are struggling with burnout, there may be a tendency to blame yourself. You may ask yourself, "What am I doing wrong?" "Am I the only one that feels this way?" "Why don't I feel the same way as when I started?"
The key here is to stop placing self-blame. Unfortunately, burnout in the healthcare industry is common and has been an accepted casualty of the job for too long. But you don't have to accept burnout anymore; you just have to accept that burnout is happening so you can all "pause," breathe, and do something about it.
Holistic Tools for Attaining and Maintaining Wellness
There are several ways to attain wellness in the workplace. The first step is ensuring recovery services are available to all who require them. Having them available at all times can stop burnout before it starts.
Creating a healthy workplace can start from the inside out. Bringing in some holistic options can help to relieve stress, lower blood pressure, and bring a greater sense of inner calm and wellness.
These holistic options may include breathwork exercises, which can be executed throughout the day in times of stress. They could include physical work like yoga to create a healthier mind-body connection. It may also include a guided meditation to allow the entire workplace to create a better sense of inner peace.
When your workplace is bogged down by burnout, it can create a negative domino effect that your clients will eventually feel. When you work so hard to ensure your clients attain a healthy recovery, you can begin to lose a little bit of your sense of health.
Rember burnout does not just affect you and your staff. It affects your entire business, and this can have devasting consequences in the healthcare industry. However, there is no need for anyone to struggle with burnout when wellness is right at your fingertips.
The mental health and wellness community is not immune to employee stress and burnout. This is why it can be critical for healthcare professionals to get the kind of wellness and self-care that they need and deserve. It can be easy for wellness professionals to forget their mental and emotional stability. After all, generally, your entire focus goes into ensuring that your clients get the best care you can offer. If you feel like you or others in your workplace are struggling with their mental health, you must get the help you need. Recovery is not always one-sided. We can help you avoid this burnout. Contact Next Level Recovery Associates today at (561) 735-2590.