"Working in an ER poses constant challenges. There are the predictable ones such as dealing with sick people and their families, making clinical decisions and plans for patients, and contending with a busy workload in a crowded space with finite resources—trying to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
There are also challenges that may be less obvious to those outside this work environment: the difficulty of self-care during a shift (meeting one’s basic needs like taking a meal break or even going to the restroom); the physiological fatigue of standing for long periods and walking kilometers in one work day; and the physical risk of looking after patients who are behaviorally unpredictable for various reasons. The psychological and cognitive load for ER staff can threaten to become overwhelming.
Even if you don’t work in an emergency room, your work environment may also feel busy and even chaotic at times. Besides affecting productivity and mental health, this can make it difficult to maintain positive relationships with coworkers, clients, and customers. Like more and more organizations these days, we decided to create a wellness program to help provide some relief—and the lessons we learned are relevant even if your office isn’t a hospital."
[For more on this story by SHAHINA BRAGANZA, go to https://greatergood.berkeley.e...ndful_emergency_room]
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