Let us take care of those who care for us, because doctors, nurses, caregivers, auxiliaries and, ultimately, all the staff dedicated to the health sector do their best to take care of us despite the difficulties, they also feel our pain. and suffer from the bureaucracy that comes with their work, just as we suffer from waiting lists.
Do all health workers sometimes have to?Juggling? To meet the demands of bureaucracy, health center managers, patient well-being and family criticism, all regardless of the personal stress they may feel in their own lives.
- Therefore.
- It is very common to find stress or exhaustion problems among health professionals.
- So thinking about those who care for us.
- Their well-being.
- Should be a priority in hospitals because they also need care.
“The competent physician, before giving a medicine to his patient, is familiar not only with the disease he wants to treat, but also with the habits and constitution of the patient. -Ciceron-
When we go to the hospital with our relatives, we tend to feel fear and frustration because we see someone we love suffer and we can do nothing for them because we are not doctors, so we feel powerless, anxious and ask you to take care of them as soon as possible, disturbing, perhaps in a very demanding way, the health workers we met along the way.
In addition, each member of this hospital is subjected to stressful work schedules, and yet they do their job as professionally as possible, trying to balance all the demands, ours and that of their centers, but sometimes they break the balance and problems start.
Work stress refers to a set of emotional, cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions of the professional in relation to certain aspects that are unfavorable or detrimental to work. Work stress among health workers occurs when labour demands are high and, at the same time, the ability to control decision-making is low – lack of resources, both personal and system-specific.
Some of the working conditions typical of health professionals are generally linked to a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms that affect the health of the doctor, the organization itself and the quality of care provided to us by health professionals.
These situations may have to do with the relationship with patients and their families, daily contact with death and pain, responsibility for the health of others, the management of emergencies or social pressures, and coordination difficulties.
Exhaustion, burnout or wear and tear syndrome at work is a consequence of stress and since 1994 has been classified by the World Health Organization as a work-related illness, it is an emotional disorder in which the variables of the work environment, stress caused by work and the lifestyle of the employee are very important , highlighting three dimensions:
All of this makes the consequences, both psychological and health, very serious. Some of the most common symptoms that occur with this syndrome are: low self-esteem, feeling exhaustion, failure and impotence, permanent arousal and nervousness, irritable or aggressive behaviors, headaches. , tachycardia, insomnia and poor performance, among others.
“It’s very hard to tell when a doctor goes crazy. Many of them are exhausted by overwork and their brain is tired. -Agatha Christie-
The differences between stress and burnout are not easy to establish and burnout can be considered the last stage of chronic stress, so according to the Selye model, which considers the third phase of stress as the phase of exhaustion, there are some differences:
The mental health of these professionals requires special attention to learn how to cope with situations of stress, anxiety and emotional discomfort. The practice of mindfulness, or mindfulness, not only improves the functioning of the health care professional’s quality of life, but also improves service. and care provided to patients.
Some mindfulness-based techniques, such as mindfulness meditation, open-minded meditation, walking meditation, or meditation on love and compassion, which in many cases can be practiced at the health center, would improve all stress and exhaustion indicators for health professionals.
Therefore, teaching a series of techniques based on mindfulness, which will help them improve their emotional state, increase empathy and take care of their well-being, will have an impact on our own health and the quality of our system, since taking care of those who take care of ourselves.