The COVID-19 pandemic, then, now and self-care tips
Written by Jessica Harvey, AHI RN Consultant
When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March of 2020, very quickly the realization was made that there was not enough personal protective equipment available to effectively protect our healthcare workers as they provided care to our loved ones in hospitals, long term care facilities, assisted living facilities, and other care settings. However, communities pulled together the best they could to support those in the healthcare arena. Nurses, nursing assistants, EMT’s, paramedics, etc. were touted as heroes of the pandemic, bravely forging ahead, re-using PPE, caring for the sick.
Fast forward through over a year of this pandemic. There is enough PPE available so that it does not need to be re-used for days on end. There is also a vaccine that reduces the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and overall illness if the disease is caught. Yet, healthcare workers are tired, exhausted, and burnt out. In truth, almost everyone is tired of the pandemic, tired of quarantines, mask wearing, and social distancing. We are all dealing with a level of stress that is unprecedented. With this level of stress and exhaustion, we have gone from supporting each other through the pandemic to arguments over vaccination status and vaccination mandates.
The hard truth is that we lost a lot of healthcare workers through the pandemic due to illness, exhaustion, early retirement, and career changes. Now, with the addition of vaccine mandates we are losing more staff than the healthcare industry can replace and there does not appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel of workforce shortages. Yet, there are those healthcare workers that will forge on and provide the best care that they can with the resources they have. Please remember, that you cannot continue to pull from a well that is dry, and you cannot expect other staff to do so either. Self-care is as important as it has ever been, if not more so.
There are many different ways to practice self-care that does not involve taking a vacation or leaving town. There a many simple things that can be done.
-Take a break when needed. It’s okay to step away for five minutes to take a breath or cry or scream, however you need to decompress quickly and recenter.
-Go outside during your breaks or lunch, especially when it’s sunny out and soak in the sun.
-Get an adequate amount of sleep, shoot for 8 hours of solid sleep.
-Disconnect from electronics and television during days off, the weekends, and/or after work hours.
-Exercise, for even 30 minutes a day, it will boost your endorphins and give you an outlet to shed your stress.
-Meditate or practice mindfulness.
-Learn a deep breathing technique that takes minutes to do but can melt away stress.
-Connect with loved ones and friends, just a phone call can be beneficial.
-Schedule a coffee, lunch, happy hour, or dinner date with a friend.
-Recognize if you need to talk to a professional and reach out, there are many mental health professionals available and many different ways to establish that relationship that don’t involve sitting in someone’s office.