Our People priority was established as part of Providence’s Mission: Forward strategic plan to inspire people and teams, so that we can attract the best and brightest and support them to flourish. The Working Well series aims to profile PHC staff and medical staff who are living wellness at work. By sharing how your colleagues embrace wellness at work, we hope that this series is just one of the ways you feel supported to flourish at Providence. If you are looking for wellness resources currently available, please refer to this one-pager. Because the better we feel at work, the better we are able to care for others.
Today we are profiling an Anonymous Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) at PHC.
What does wellness mean to you?
Balance. Meaningful work, time and energy to devote to my family.
I value my work relationships and find my workplace is extremely supportive. This means quite a lot to me.
What is one of your wellness goals?
Exercise! I’m in the “Let’s Move” study for exercising four times a week for health care workers. It makes such a huge difference for me.
What do you do during your work day (and at home) to achieve wellness?
• Try to keep my work to within the 40 hours per week I’m scheduled to work
• Make dinner for the family
• Take time to exercise and sleep
• Knitting
Do you have a wellness tips for staff/your colleagues?
Pace yourself daily, and in your career in general. You are a valuable asset that will last if you don’t let yourself get used up. Look at how long you intend to practice and think in terms of working at a sustainable pace. Staying late and working extra shifts to help out will help out short-term, but can be a formula for burnout.
If helpful, think of how much more it will cost the health care system (and your clients/patients) if you leave due to burnout, compassion fatigue, moral distress, etc. – and the person replacing you needs training and orientation. That is, if a replacement can be found. Maintaining a reasonable daily workload mitigates all of that, and sets you up for a long career in health care.
Physically take care of your body. Don’t go to work when you are sick. Don’t try to lift that heavy object on your own. Always get help with mobilizing/transferring patients.
Practice saying no/I’ll think about it! – I know, not very collegial but getting swamped doesn’t help clients/patients either. It’s OK to delegate.
Providing the best care to the people we serve is dependent on our own health and wellness. We are working to deliver a comprehensive Staff and Medical Staff Wellness Action Plan, to help us create a healthy and safe work environment where everyone can flourish. If you have a wellness idea that could make a big difference to you and your colleagues, please send it to Ideas: Forward. If you have questions about this plan or feedback on wellness at PHC, please be in touch: missionforward@providencehealth.bc.ca.
