How to handle stress in the ever-changing healthcare industry

With words like eviction notice and budget cuts plaguing the news this year, healthcare professionals are experiencing added stress to an already stressful work environment.  Administrators in nursing homes are often in a high-stakes decision-making role, making decisions at every level, from food vendors to patient care, in order to keep operations running smoothly.

According to a recent study, health care providers have higher stress levels and complaints than employees of any other industry (www.advisory.com.)  Sixty-nine percent of health care workers report feeling stressed, and seventeen percent report being highly stressed.  Stress can not only affect your work environment, but chronic stress can be detrimental to your health, resulting in high blood pressure, heart attacks, lower immunity, depression, anxiety, and more.

Are you looking for ways to overcome the pressure and strain of your job? We have some ideas that might help.

How to manage stress in the workplace

  1. Track your stressors:  Journaling your everyday stressors and how you handle those situations can help establish patterns.  Writing these daily occurrences down may help you identify those triggers and help you establish better ways to deal with those situations.
  2. Establish boundaries:  With today’s technology at our fingertips, it is easy to take work home.  Make sure to establish work-life boundaries for yourself.  Planning a specific time of day to check emails and return phone calls can help alleviate the pressures of work, allowing you to spend quality time with your family. Be careful not to let work time intrude into your personal downtime…This is when resentments toward your work can begin to form.
  3. Communication: Once you establish your boundaries, make sure to communicate those to your work peers and employees. If the expectation is that you are unavailable after 6pm, then individuals who are in need of your input will change their practice of when they reach out to you. Also, communicating your peak times of availability will allow others to gain the best use of your time and energy.
  4. Get some support:  Hiring more people in the workplace and spreading out responsibilities can help reduce stress levels, but investing in more resources is not always possible.  So often peers in our industry can offer support, encouragement and solutions that we haven’t had the time or energy to think of ourselves. Establishing a professional mentor is also a great way to gain perspective and support from an experienced source. Finally, remember that it is important to ask for help when it is needed. Employers often have resources readily available including online materials and even counseling.

Do you feel the weight coming off your shoulders? If you are interested in learning more about our services, contact us today 337-384-9791 or visit us at www.therapyctr.com.

error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)