Many of us are feeling extreme burnout after nearly a year of dealing with COVID-19. But few of us feel it as intensely as healthcare workers. In Tipton Health’s December 15 webinar, Dr. Jeff Doucette, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia, offered tips on keeping your “resiliency tank” full when work is constantly draining it.
You probably spend more waking hours at work than you do anywhere else, so it’s important to feel good about the work you’re doing and the environment you do it in. Here are a few strategies for strengthening your resiliency and keeping a positive attitude.
Finding Positivity
The way you choose to react in a situation can dramatically affect how you maintain and boost your resiliency—especially under the pressure and stress you feel at the moment. Try to find the positive in every situation and see the glass half-full. You’ll not only inspire others around you to be more resilient, you’ll boost your own resiliency as well.
Work-Life Effectiveness
In the quest to achieve work-life balance, everyone seems to be looking for a one-size-fits-all fix. Don’t fall into that trap! Instead, think about what works best for you personally when juggling work and the rest of your life. Some of us do better working at 100% capacity from 9 to 5 and completely shutting work out after hours. Others do better taking breaks throughout the day and checking emails after the workday has ended. It’s different for everyone—and it’s never perfect. When you adjust your expectations, you’ll gain the freedom to define your own balance.
Practicing Mindfulness
- Live in the moment. By being more present at work, you can turn even the smallest events into powerful moments. The keys to being present are doing everything with intention—and without judgment. And remember, you need to apply that nonjudgmental attitude to yourself, too. Remind yourself that the skills you bring to your role are exactly what’s needed in the moment and practice self-compassion.
- Maintain awareness. Keep tabs on your feelings by doing a head-to-toe scan, especially in stressful situations. Staying ahead of your emotions will help you slow yourself down enough to choose how you react.
- Practice gratitude. Find opportunities during the day to connect with others and remind yourself what you have to be grateful for. Studies show that practicing gratitude during stressful moments can alter your brain’s chemical reaction to stress by lowering your cortisol levels and increasing your DHEA levels.
Learn More from Our Speakers
We will hold our next webinar, Self-Leadership in a Pandemic (and Every Other Day), on January 12, 2020, 12:30–1:30 p.m. EDT.