Caring for Ourselves

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Caring for Ourselves
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Aims

• Examine sources of professional stress in
  relation to loss, grief and bereavement
• Identify strategies that participants can employ
  to care for themselves

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Why do we need to care for ourselves?

• Frequent exposure to death and dying
• Daily barrage of suffering and tragedy
• Dealing with acute situations
• Deadlines
• Meeting the needs of lots of
• people at the same time
• STRESSORS!

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What happens if we dont care for ourselves

• BURNOUT!
• Emotional exhaustion
• Cynicism
• Detachment
• Ineffectiveness
• Lack of accomplishment

• Lower productivity
• Patient and staff dissatisfaction
• Reduced self esteem
• Depression
• Poor quality of care, errors, adverse events
• Absenteeism

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What is self-care

• Positive mental and physical health related
  activities
• Needs time and effort
• Knowledge and skills
• Motivation
• Value of health
• Belief that it will work
• Results in increased confidence and empowerment

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Self awareness
Education
SELF CARE
Options
Evaluation
Looking in
Growth
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Intra personal skills

• Help us to manage our
• Feelings
• Responses
• Actions
• so we are able to function at our best

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Intrapersonal World

• Effects our
• Responses
• Thinking
• Behaviour
• Views of ourselves
• Feelings
• Achievements
• Touches upon what is closest to our hearts and
  being - emotions

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Emotions and Self Awareness

• Because we work in emotional situations, we can
  expect to feel emotional at times
• If we avoid this,we dont get to the heart of the
  issue so dont achieve all we could
• The more we understand of ourselves the better we
  are to manage situations

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Self awareness - Activity

• How self aware are you?

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What else can help you to help yourself?

• Reflective practice
• Clinical supervision
• PDP
• Honesty
• Diet
• Exercise
• Relaxation

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Summary

• Caring for ourselves is essential if we are to
  effectively care for others
• Lack of self care can lead to burnout and at
  worst, psychological morbidity, i.e. anxiety and
  depression
• Strategies should and can be employed to ensure
  self care and personal and professional
  development