Question
What are risks factors that influence mental health for respiratory therapists?
Answer
One of the most common causes of stress that respiratory therapists face throughout their day has to do with scheduling. Most jobs are not set up to help us thrive or to feel balanced with our work and life schedule. Not knowing if there is adequate staffing and coverage as a manager if you are going to be asked to cover someone else’s shift due to a call-in, or how long the shift is going to last can increase our level of stress. There is always a lot of work to do, and there is not always enough time to get it all in. Several key factors affect our mental health.
- Waking up and rushing
- Seeing patients non-stop
- Little to no breaks
- Working long shifts, filling in shifts
- Absorbing work mentally and emotionally (compassion
- fatigue)
- Not enough sleep, movement, self-care
Compassion fatigue is a reality when you are exhausted from caring for people all the time and for giving so much. Consequently, you may not always have the time or the energy to give back to yourself. The patients you are caring for may not be there the next time that you come in. This can be a lot to take on when you have to go right into treating the next person on your caseload without having the time to work through this.
As we know, an example is a COVID-19 pandemic causing uncertainty and anxiety in all aspects of our lives. There may be increasing demands and application of recent protocols that you may be up against, on top of the already stressful work that you are doing. This is a survival skill in which we are struggling day to day to figure out how to break free from current daily habits and routines.
We are trying to find more ease in the day as mental and physical fatigue starts to set in. In order to identify the risk factors associated with our stress level, we have to rethink things completely. You have pocket tools that help you to take care of yourself. Tools are as simple as checking in, finding a little bit of rest or a moment to recharge during the day, and most importantly to feel present. Jarosz, et al. (2019) researched mindfulness-based interventions, including stress management tools to support resiliency for respiratory therapists. Respiratory therapists demonstrated decreased stress levels and resiliency when mindfulness interventions were implemented, including the introduction of breathing and meditation techniques during respiratory therapy staff meetings. Stress will always happen, but it does not have to stick with you or keep you in that stressful state. You can build resiliency and you can use tools to minimize the effects of stress
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Practical Stress Management for Respiratory Therapists Part 1: Understanding Stress and Mindfulness, presented by Jessi Andricks, MS, CCC-SLP
