A physician recently tweeted with the hashtag #HealthyinHC in the hopes of starting a conversation and movement to get those in medicine to take better care of themselves (maybe starting with healthier, less-crazy lunches).
I’m starting a new thing. I welcome participation from anyone who wants to share. #healthyinhc
— Sumit Patel MD (@S_P_MD) January 17, 2018
We talk often on #medtwitter & #FOAMed about how hard it can be to stay healthy physically, emotionally, & spiritually in this line of work.
It doesn’t just include docs, RNs, 1/
Since the inception of the tag, twitter users in healthcare have been adding to the conversation about how they take care of themselves, from teaching their spouse how to help them unwind,
For a long time when I'd tell my husband abt my hardest shifts, with all good intention he'd ask, "Do you want to stay in PICU or look for something else?" Finally realized I had to guide him a bit in how to help me. Help me w coping, not w leaving bc I want to stay. #healthyinhc
— Hui-wen (Alina) Sato (@alinasato) January 17, 2018
to talking about the emotional impact of fields like palliative care,
One way to stay #healthyinhc is to talk about the emotional impact of caring for people who are facing critical illness (for families & ourselves) Many in the #palliative care field have regular team debrief sessions for this reason. If you don’t attend to emotion, it spills over
— Shireen Heidari (@LifeAcoustic) January 18, 2018
to realizing that just because you save lives, you’re not a superhero,
Time to dismantle the notion that all HC peeps are superheroes that can function at 100%, 24/7. We are human too, not immune to fatigue and stress, with energy stores that need to be replenished. The system needs to change, and also look after its own. #healthyinhc 3/3
— Katherine D. Leviste (@kdleviste) January 18, 2018
to unplugging and living in the moment when you have one,
I recently started making my phone completely unable to receive any pages when I go off service. This has helped me to be more mindful of not bringing work stress home with me! #healthyinhc
— Kathleen Ewanowski (@KathleenthePA) January 18, 2018
to checking “relax” off of your mental checklist,
Yesterday I went to visit one of our patients on my day off. First time I ever did that. It was so nice to sit with him and his family and just talk without worrying about having a million things on my mental checklist to do #healthyinhc
— Emily __ (@saxy_andiknowit) January 20, 2018
to finding ways to have a good shift,
During a particularly busy night in the ED a hospitalist and I discovered that a street name for quaaludes was “disco biscuits”. We laughed about it for the rest of the shift. Look for reasons to have a good shift. #healthyinhc
— Jonah Salyers (@Skepticemia) January 29, 2018
to eating right by cooking once and prepping for the week,
#Sundays are for #MealPrep __#healthyinhc #WomenInMedicine @HipHustlePod pic.twitter.com/w6Ahl3dFQw
— Shreya P. Trivedi MD (@ShreyaTrivediMD) January 22, 2018
to processing the thoughts and emotions of the day,
It's important to clear our mind's cache. There are many methods. One of my method is through writing, getting out all the thoughts racing through the back of mind and putting them on paper.[1] #healthyinhc
— Es (@MinkaKruk) January 18, 2018
to simply “being”,
I used to feel guilty about time to relax - thru the yrs of being in medicine, relaxing somehow started to carry negative connotations. But in fact, simply “being” is another form of release #healthyinhc
— Shreya P. Trivedi MD (@ShreyaTrivediMD) January 23, 2018
to understanding that there’s always a tomorrow, and you have to take care of yourself to take care of others.
Accepting that, sometimes, it’s OKAY to have setbacks in your day to day happenings if it means prioritizing some self-care. There is always tomorrow. #healthyinhc
— Carlos Barranco (@jc_barranco1) January 25, 2018
