As a healthcare worker, you’re pretty much on call 24/7. Even if you’ve got designated hours for your shift, it’s not surprising that there will be times when you’ll be given an emergency to cover. Especially now that the pandemic is still in place, health workers are oftentimes over worked. The ratio of medical workers to patients is just getting too much to handle. Hence, the over-tired, stressed, and fatigued healthcare workers of today.
Health professionals are the modern-day heroes, particularly as of late. They put their own health and safety at risk daily for the sake of the general public. If you’re a health worker reading this, there’s no denying that you’ve also got to shower yourself with some love from time-to-time. This article could be your answered prayer, as it gives you some of the best ways you can treat yourself as a medical worker.
- Practice Basic Self-Protective Measures
As you take care of others, don’t forget to give yourself some love, too.
One measure that health care workers can take is to practice basic self-protective measures. This is an important part of treating yourself, as you can’t be the best version of yourself in the workplace if you’re neglecting your own well-being.
For instance, before you expose yourself to any harm and danger in the workplace, it’s important that you take the time to properly learn about the situation beforehand. That way, you know exactly what you’re up for.
Then, don’t neglect the protective equipment that you have to wear. If it makes you feel better, treat yourself to some new and stylish scrubs for nurses and personal protective equipment. You don’t always have to look and feel sloppy in your work clothes.
- Manage Your Stress Through Relaxation Techniques
No matter how busy or stressful your days might be, give yourself at least a few minutes every day to relax. You don’t have to spend on this. Whatever suits your fancy, you can relax right in the comforts of home.
Give yourself the time to just relax. Breathe, or have some undisturbed shut-eye. For instance, you can listen to music, have a massage. Others also like to meditate or do yoga. This is subjective, as each person has their own preferences. In choosing your relaxation technique, you do you. Choose to do what would truly make you happy and feel relaxed.
- Practice Good Hygiene
Practicing good hygiene may seem like a no-brainer for healthcare workers, but this goes beyond just sanitation. This involves your overall hygiene, even in areas of your body that you may tend to neglect.
For example, your hair. When you work at the hospital, in most instances, your hair is covered with a hairnet or a shower cap and is always tied up. Hence, you might feel as if it’s okay not to have a regular haircut, color, or styling. No. Give yourself some time to take care of those parts, too. That way, whenever you go out of work, you still feel beautiful and confident. You don’t have to be too conscious that unwanted hair may not have been taken care of or that you haven’t visited the dentist in five years.
- Exercise Regularly
This advice is particularly true for physicians. They can be very good at giving advice for a longer, happier, and healthier life to their patients, but it’s also often the case that they forget to practice these tips themselves.
Exercising regularly, however, is the best gift you can give yourself. It enables you not just to be healthier but also happier. You don’t have to do strenuous exercises. Even a simple walk around the park for half an hour is more than enough to give you that needed daily physical activity.
While you exercise, you can use this time to think about your life and ponder on things. If there are certain stressors going on in your life right now, you can even use this as an opportunity for you to let all your frustrations out.
- See Friends
While most of your life may be founded in the clinic and your co-workers have become your friends, it can do your emotional and mental well-being a lot for you also to meet other friends outside of the workplace. Surely, you’ve got another circle of friends too that you may not have met in forever.
For instance, think of your college circle, mom friends circle, buddies, or even your neighbors that you’ve gotten close to. Seeing these other friends can give you that much-needed breather outside of the medical community. Otherwise, if you keep limiting yourself only to your friends in the healthcare industry, you may all just talk about the same stressors over and over again.
Meeting other friends can bring you back to that sense of identity you may have forgotten. Yes, there’s a life outside of the medical community that you shouldn’t forget to re-visit.
- Eat A Balanced Diet
Yes, you can indulge yourself in your favorite desserts sometimes. But, this shouldn’t be an everyday thing. Because you work in the medical industry, you ought to know better.
There’s merit in the saying that you are what you eat. Food is what fuels your body, so if you want to be the best version of yourself, you’ve also got to eat well. Think of the long-term effects that eating junk food regularly will have on your body.
Hence, for you to fight the urge to munch on unhealthy snacks while at work, prepare your own meals in advance so you can take them with you to work. Feed your body with a regular supply of fruits and vegetables.
Conclusion
Now that your long and busy day at the hospital is over, give yourself a pat on the shoulder for all the positive efforts you’ve made. Breathe, put your feet up and relax. As you can glean from the examples above, treating yourself doesn’t always have to be expensive. There are seemingly simple ways throughout the day for you to give yourself that self-love you so deserve. Beneath your thick scrubs and mask, you should be able to give yourself a happy smile at the end of every workday.
