The healthcare field is undeniably a challenging industry. Long shifts, striving for patient satisfaction, and working amongst a busy team can affect you both physically and mentally. This, in turn, can affect how you feel about your career that you have undoubtedly worked hard for. So, how do you avoid burnout in allied health careers? Below we’ve outlined five simple healthcare burnout prevention tips! Keep reading!
Healthcare Burnout Prevention Tips
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Change Up Your Routine and Environment
Studies show that one of the main reasons that we begin to feel burnout towards our career is due to excessive repetition in our day. Try and add as much diversity to your day! While many allied health careers are less desk-based careers, they can still be repetitive. Change up your normal schedule to help alleviate feelings of burnout. For example, try working out in the morning. Get an added boost of energy and endorphins from a morning exercise. Or, try taking a 15-minute power walk on your lunch break. Divide up your day with a small burst of activity to keep your mind and body awake! If you have paperwork or patient forms to complete consider working in a different location. Pop into a coffee shop, meeting room, or even a different area in your workspace. Simple and small changes will aid in healthcare burnout prevention.
Engage In A Creative Outlet
A high-stress position with little downtime is another warning sign of job burnout. Demanding positions can leave you prone to making more mistakes, losing focus, and overall feeling unhappy. A simple healthcare burnout prevention tip: find a creative outlet! Think about hobbies and interests that you can incorporate into your daily life. Creative outlets can help to improve your overall well-being and alleviate stress. Interested in pottery classes? Now is the time! Want to learn how to play tennis? Go for it!
Use Your Vacation Days
According to a study, more than 50% of U.S. workers give up some of their vacation time! Do not let this happen to you! Use your vacation days! Many employees believe that they cannot take their vacations days because they have too much work to do, or because it “looks bad” to be taking time off. However, neither is true. Vacation days were designed to be used! Reports show that employees who use their vacation days are more productive, positive, and energized. Can’t get away for a couple of days? Use your vacation days for a much-needed stay-cation. Reconnect with friends and family, and recharge your body.
Self Care Is Key
Another helpful healthcare burnout prevention tip is to practice good self-care. We can quickly get caught up in the stress of our everyday jobs, neglecting to care for ourselves. Try to make a conscious effort to practice self-care throughout the week. Eat balanced meals; get enough sleep each night, and stay active! Find out how you best decompress after a long day and set aside time for meditation, yoga, or mindfulness. Your body will thank you!
Don’t Wait Until Your Burnt-out
We can begin to feel job burnout for a multitude of reasons. However, an important healthcare burnout prevention tip is to recognize when you are beginning to feel burnt-out. Discuss a time to talk with your manager about how you are feeling. Devise a plan with potential burnout prevention solutions. Have honest and open communication between you and your supervisor. The more they understand your situation, the more they can help!
Are you an Allied Health Professional? Have you ever experienced job burnout? What are some other healthcare burnout prevention tips not mentioned in this blog? Comment them below!
