Editor's
Note
Caring for the
caregivers
Don’t
forget to tend to yourself over the holidays
Beth Ulrich, Ed.D.,
RN, Texas Editor
October
16, 2000
Health
care professionals choose their careers because they care
about people. Unfortunately, in their dedication to their
professions and patients, they often forget to care for
themselves.
The
holiday time of year is a particularly hard time to say
no to increased demands on time. On the home front, there
are family gatherings, presents to select and out-of-town
guests to entertain. In the community, we are often the
first to help others in need – distributing Thanksgiving meals
and adopting families for Christmas. At work, we take additional
shifts to cover our colleagues and they cover us for vacation
time and sick time for the flu bug that always seems to
hit when staffing is the shortest and patients are in the
most need. We are pulled in many directions and the feelings
that got us into health care in the first place are the
ones that motivate us to keep doing more.
Knowing
my colleagues and myself, I would never suggest that we
not do these things. They are fun and rewarding. I would,
however, like to suggest that we all take a few minutes
this week and make a plan on how to care for ourselves throughout
the holiday season and into the New Year. When we teach
CPR, we teach the rescuers to make sure they care for themselves
so that they can save others. We can use that same philosophy
every day.
A few
suggestions:
- Make
a plan that includes your commitments throughout the holiday
season. Yes, it’s scary to see all the things you’ve said
you will do, but without a plan you won’t get them done.
- Find
time to do something just for you before the Thanksgiving
week when things start to get hectic. Take a day off.
It’s easier to cover your day off now than later in the
year. Go to a day spa. Go fishing. Sit in the back yard
or by the fireplace and read a book.
- Do
a reality check with your family on what must be done
for the holidays to be a success. You might be surprised.
I never knew that baking a gingerbread house for Christmas
had become a tradition until the year I almost didn’t
bake one. Conversely, I’ve occasionally not done something
and realized later that no one noticed.
- Do
something that’s good for your mind and body. The benefits
of walking or exercising 30 minutes a day (or every other
day) far outweigh the cost of the time spent. The same
goes for 20 minutes of meditation or a long soak in the
tub.
- Ignore
all of the above suggestions and do something only you
know will let you care for yourself.
Last,
but not least, mentally back far enough away from what you
have to get done and what you want to get done to fully
enjoy and appreciate all the precious moments throughout
the holiday season that lift your spirit. Caring for the
caregivers (ourselves) is not a luxury. It is a way to assure
that we have the continued energy, drive and commitment
to care for the patients we came into our professions to
help.
