Why do we need to
care for ourselves and
our colleagues?
Do you remember why
you wanted to become
a health worker?
2
Important questions for reflection
• People are drawn to caring for many reasons, but they almost all
stay in the work for one reason – the people they care for, always
the people
• Being part of a care team requires high-tech skills, psychosocial
skills, organisational skills, and active listening skills
• Compassion, a big heart and a healthy dose of humour are also
prerequisites for staying in the caring team. We make a
difference in the lives of the people, their families and whanau for
whom we care which is probably the most important thing we do
• As we do this work we also put ourselves at risk of increasing
stress and risk developing burnout
3
Maybe because
• What you eat
• How you use or exercise
your body
• How you relax
• How you keep yourself
safe from hazards
4
Lifestyle - behavioural
Psychological - motivational
This is what moves us to
lead the lifestyle we do
What are the payoffs for
doing what we do?
5
The real meaning of life
or your place in the
universe
6
Spiritual - meaning
Your power lies in the choices you make every day on
your own behalf;
•What are the habits and fixed attitudes that govern
your choices?
7
Your wellbeing is your
responsibility
How will you know if
you are stressed? RED FLAGS
Examples of your red flags
• No sense of humour
• Snappy, impatient
• Lapses of concentration while working
• Wanting the children to be quiet
• Pressing need to have some space
• Need to buy something/anything
8
Complementing your wellness
Make a list of all the things
you do and enjoy to
energise yourself – now
make time for them
9
Step 1
Mentally detach from the situation and smile to yourself. This lessens the
impact of the situation. Smiling to your self adds a calming effect
Step 2
Think to yourself; ‘I am at peace’
Step 3
Take in one slow, deep breath. You are putting the brakes on your
psychological response
Step 4
As you breathe out; relax your body from head to feet. Let tension flow
out of your body, like butter melting in the sun
10
The calming response
(5 minutes)
Go well, take care of
you and remember ...
‘To the world you may
just be a person, but to
a person you may just
be the world.’
11
New beginnings
Hinweis der Redaktion
Get some feedback from participants as this is what they have been asked to reflect on prior to the session. If small group do as one group – if large numbers then it may be better to split in to smaller groups.
Summarise their thoughts and include the above reasons affirming how important they are as health care workers.
1st level is the lifestyle level
OHP
Many of us follow lifestyles that are destructive both to ourselves and the planet yet we may feel powerless to change them
eat a poor diet
smoke
sunbathe
drink too much
Look at your lifestyle for a minute or two and think in general terms how you live your life on a daily basis – it is NOT a shame and blame exercise – just taking an inventory of what we do and many of you may be very happy with the way you are living right now, others may like to change some things.
Examples like: eating on the run, snacking rather than sitting down for meal
Eating well – the body is like a car – it needs fuel. Each of our bodies is different and needs its own unique diet – consider your diet for a moment
Exercise – the thought produces fear in many people. We ought to spend at least 20 minutes a day that gets your heart rate going. Benefits in exercising – not only will you start to feel better but you will notice benefits in every area of your life
Sleep – the amount of sleep we need varies for each of us and the quality of sleep is important. How many times have you tossed and turned and worried about things? Go to bed relaxed – don’t watch violence before bed or focus on negative things. Journal, listen to music.
Interestingly we do things because there is a payoff for us. We are in the caring professions because we feel good looking after others and many of us find it difficult to accept caring for ourselves because we are ‘givers’.
So why do we do what we do? Why do we eat lots of chocolate for example – could it be because we want comfort?
Why do people smoke? What's the payoff ….
We need to look even deeper to the psychological or motivational level to understand this and many of us will just accept we do what we do but today I ask you to reflect on why you do what you do?
Give participants a few minutes to think about slide.
Self-talk – types of thoughts that fill our head are important – think positive thoughts
Take time to go within – sit quietly for a few minutes every day – aim for 20mins/day going within
Exploring even deeper we encounter the spiritual level or meaning level of life
OHP
It is important that this level of our being is replenished and that involves taking care of our whole being.
Wellness is much more than just the absence of disease – it is being aware of our whole being, exploring different options for improving our wellness, trying some of these out and constantly re-evaluating how they are working.
Wellness is a way of life – a lifestyle you design to achieve your highest potential for well-being
Wellness is a choice – your choice – you can start to appreciate yourself as a growing, changing person
Wellness is integration of body, mind and spirit – the appreciation of everything you do, and think, and feel and believe has an impact on your state of health
Time for reflection on how they nurture their spiritual being.
Time to discuss habits and fixed attitudes from their childhood and from the workplace.
Examples: “Always work hard “ as childhood message can lead to workaholics
“Be seen and not heard”
“We have always done it this way” ……….
General introduction to stress. In the next slide we will have a discussion about recognising stress in themselves.
Refer to the pre reading on stress
Sleep – the amount of sleep we need varies for each of us and the quality of sleep is important. How many times have you tossed and turned and worried about things? Go to bed relaxed – don’t watch violence before bed or focus on negative things. Journal, listen to music.
Self-talk – types of thoughts that fill our head are important – think positive thoughts
Take time to go within – sit quietly for a few minutes every day – aim for 20mins/day going within
This is a useful short exercise to teach people how to just have a little time out in a busy day or stressful situation. It is very simple and I often suggest participants have it on a card in their pocket and take themselves to the bathroom or outside for 10 minutes and go through this. The words “I am at peace” can be replaced with any calming words that the participants like. Smiling puts a physiological stop on a stress response so that is why it is important to smile even if you don’t feel like smiling. (Fake it till you make it!!) Deep breathing puts the brakes on our psychological response.