Stress Management Tips for Healthcare Professionals

Article by Donna Earl

Working in healthcare can be stressful! To be at your best professionally and protect yourself personally from stress, use these tips.

1. Train for a marathon! Working in a fast paced situation with emotional overtones requires marathon like preparation. First, take care of your physical stamina with eating right, respecting your need for rest, and exercise.
2. Like a marathoner, better training results in a better outcome. Training in job skills and procedures sets you up for success, and training in customer service/patient satisfaction skills keeps you on the right path no matter what or who you’re dealing with.
3. Stay focused on the right stuff. Be aware of your mindset. If you focus on the negative, disappointing or stressful, you’re collecting reasons to be stressed. Rather than bemoaning a cranky patient or obsessing over an unhelpful coworker, start appreciating when things go right, a patient is gracious, and a colleague helpful.
4. Recognize what you can control and what is out of your control. Organizational policies and procedures, management decisions and last minute schedule changes may feel out of control, and stressful. However feeling at the mercy of others’ actions or decisions is a prescription for being stressed. Focus on only on what you can control, including your mindset.
5. Don’t be a sponge for other peoples’ anxiety or stress. Most people who work in healthcare are empathetic and want to help others. However it is toxic to your wellbeing to absorb negative emotions and distress of others. Resolve to not allow other people or events push your buttons. Take back your buttons!
6. Be a Cory! Cory is a customer service champion. He once was stressed out, but made a decision to put on a professional attitude when he put on his scrubs. Once he decided to determine his own attitude (rather than allow others to push his buttons) he found the job less stressful and more rewarding. Determine your own attitude!

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