It's easy for healthcare professionals and caregivers to get busy and lose themselves, but it is crucial to strike that balance between giving their time and energy to others and making sure they also care for themselves.
What’s going on in your body, your emotions, mental and spiritual health? Have you paused to check your own vitals lately? How’s your spiritual and emotional temperature running? Too high, lukewarm, or just right? Do you make time for play? Do you have healthy outlets that are incorporated in the rhythm of your routines?
This is your friendly reminder to put your own oxygen mask on first so you won’t pass out while trying to help someone else with theirs! Love yourself the same way you care about others, especially your patients.
Schedule your dental cleaning, or that dreaded ultrasound, and maybe take a loved one with you. You’ve put that surgery off long enough—or maybe you need to take the time to get a second opinion. Get some rest and relaxation.
Call that therapist and start on the road to healing your mental health—the field of veterinary medicine has made strides since the first reports on mental health in people working in this profession, but people working in veterinary medicine still experience burnout and have higher rates of exhaustion than the general population. Mindfulness, whether that be through prayer, meditation, or yoga, is a proven way to improve mental health. So is spending time with loved ones and getting exercise.
As healthcare professionals and caregivers, it's so easy to lose ourselves in the busyness of the day-to-day, but it is crucial to strike that balance between giving our time and energy to others and making sure we also care for ourselves.
It can be a challenge to keep away feelings of guilt when we choose to unplug, or take the time to do what we enjoy, but learning how to do that is part of growth, and a critical part of ensuring you can take the best care of your patients, your clients, and your team.
Take time to do what you love, to take care of you. Breathe.
You’ve got this!
Rosemary Klass is the culture wellness advocate at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center (VMC) and College of Veterinary Medicine. She has spent most of her nearly 30-year career at the VMC as a senior veterinary technician in the small animal ICU. Klass also is a certified conflict mediator and serves as chair of the Minnesota Association of Veterinary Technicians' Wellness and Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Acceptance committees.
