We are READY!!!

It’s wonderful. We are talking, meeting, eating with friends and families once again. We are striking up conversations with total strangers – at least I don’t think I am the only one doing that. As we are trying to return to “normal” I am increasingly aware of not being my normal self. Two years of isolation, restrictions, separations have

Covid Care Burnout?

Barbara Karnes writes booklets for Healthcare Workers, Hospices, and Deathcare workers. I have used many of her resources on death and dying as a chaplain. If the following quote resonates with you, then check out the full article on healthcare worker burnout and maybe look into her booklets as well. Dear Barbara, I work as

Stress and Anxiety Apps

PTSD Coach Online. The VA has developed free tools available to anyone in the general public who is struggling with Anxiety and Stress. If you are in healthcare and have been dealing with Covid-19 for the last 2 years … you have experienced both Trauma and Stress on an intense level. Don’t be put off

How Stressed are You?

Take a 5 minute assessment https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/stress-test#1

All Grief during Covid is Traumatic

When healthcare professionals lose a patient there will be grief and all the complexities that grief entails: anger, sadness, guilt, overwhelm, even relief. If these reactions are not expressed, shared, or released in some way they will eat away at your stomach, your self-esteem, your energy, your overall health, your sleep, your peace of mind…

Everyone has a story

When someone shares their grief and pain with us we should not take it as an opportunity to share ours. The problem is, that is the default response most of us have in our conversations. We wait for the tiniest of pauses while the other person takes a breath and we jump in with our

Me? Stressed? &$#*^

Stress and Coping https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/mental-health-healthcare.html Well Being for Nurses https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/disaster-preparedness/coronavirus/what-you-need-to-know/the-well-being-initiative/

You’re not perfect

You’ve been impatient – even if it felt like they deserved it you don’t feel good about it. You let your feelings out – which can be a good thing, in general, because if you don’t some part of you is going to break. But was it the best way to express them or the

They’re angry at me?!

Fear and helplessness are often the source of anger. Ask yourself, what might they be afraid of? Are they really angry at you, the person trying to save their loved one? That would be so counterproductive. Are they, rather, lashing out in fear? Step back emotionally, let go of defensiveness, it’s not really about you.

Epiphany

You might relate to these words from Taylor Swift’s song, “Epiphany” …… [Chorus]With you I serve, with you I fall down, downWatch you breathe in, watch you breathing out, out [Verse 2]Something med school did not coverSomeone’s daughter, someone’s motherHolds your hand through plastic now“Doc, I think she’s crashing out”And some things you just can’t