Nurses and doctors–those critical caretakers of society!–often carry heavy mental and emotional burdens in the course of their work.
Think about it: nurses often witness the worst hours and days of a person’s life. Doctors take care of patients and their families who are faced with accident, illness, disability and even death.
This is exactly why taking mental health days can be so important for healthcare professionals!
“If the nurses don’t care for their own mind, body and stress system, then that leads to burnout very quickly,” said Stephanie Swann, a psychotherapist for nurses, in an article with the Atlanta Journal. “So taking intermittent mental health days can prevent a more chronic burnout.”
Mental health days can also battle depression resulting from the job, which is good since nurses especially experience clinical depression at twice the rate of the general public.
To figure out if you’re hitting bottom in your healthcare job, ask yourself a few questions:
If you are experiencing some heavy emotions from your work, come in and see me. I would love to listen and give you tools to better manage your work stress and enjoy your (incredibly important) job more fully.
You Might Also Enjoy...
Suicides among teens ages 15-19 are the highest they’ve been since 2000, says a new study by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Here’s a snippet from an NBC analysis of the study: The new study found that in 2017, 6,241 teenagers and adult
This is second in a two-part series about sleep. Click here to read part one. Last week I wrote about how poor sleep can negatively affect your mental health. If you’re thinking, “It’s not my fault, I just can’t fall asleep at night!” then try this metho
I can’t stress this enough: part of managing your mental health includes getting enough sleep. I’ve written about this here before: in my career I’ve seen how poor sleep can lead to suicidal thoughts, memory issues, even weight gain. According to an artic
New evidence is emerging that some medications for ADHD put teens and young adults at risk for developing psychosis. According to this study of more than 200,000 people ages 13 to 25, one out of 660 people had an episode of psychosis in a few months afte
As thrilled as kids are with summer break, it can be difficult on parents to muster the same enthusiasm. You’re all out of your routine and it can take time to get used to a new schedule, and get used to each other. If you have a child with developmental
A recent report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) makes a case for more mental health professionals–including nurses and social workers–in schools. From the report: School counselors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists are frequently
