Stress during the Holidays, be sure to care for yourself

Stress at work

All of us, regardless of the profession we choose have to deal with stress at work. This stress can be a direct result of the expectations of your job. This is very true in any service industry type occupations.

There is the stress to perform up to the standard of the job. Depending on your occupation it could be financial goals, productivity goals, output goals, customer satisfaction goals.

In the Therapy world of skilled nursing there are certain standards that need to be kept. We need to maintain an adequate productivity or efficiency based on billable time with residents versus time on the clock in the building. Many times with the right employer the standard is reasonable when you can focus on your job and stay focused. Unfortunately there are times when no matter how experienced you are in this setting there is the certain incident that throws off the timing of the day and begins to build stress on you trying to “catch up”.

These incidents can be simply stuck waiting for a resident to be ready as their CNA is getting them ready. It could also be a well meaning family member that starts asking questions when you are not currently with their loved one. Unfortunately they don’t know or understand how much that can really throw off our day.

This can also become more pronounced during Holidays as more and more family members start coming in and not communicating with their other family members. There are also the increase in parties and activities around and of course your last resident is in the activity.

Therapy management stress

There are certain goals and standards for the Director of Rehabilitation to keep the team focused and on time. This can be very challenging during holidays as we deal with the same issues the staff has to work through as well as having more and more as needed employees working that struggle to maintain the standards due to not knowing the residents or patters that we have developed with the staff to smooth out our days.

As a manager we also need to be prepared and adept to have more interaction with more families this time of the year. Unfortunately the stress that the resident and the family feels of a missed holiday gets exacerbated and can at times reach for unreasonable goals.

Outside of work stress

For all of us there is a significant increase in stress at holiday season. These stresses unfortunately do come from good things and good experiences. The difference is making sure to find a happy place with your life.

Increased stress comes from the increase in spending as we start buying gifts. We have the increase anxiety of gift giving itself. This is especially true when you start adding in the “White elephant ” gifts and what to bring for each party.

Increased stress with time management is another area that can be a negative aspect of a good experience. As much as you might live to be able to do every party and get together to make everyone happy, you need to realize that boundaries need to be made and unfortunately sacrifices must be made. You will begin to become burned out and hate the holidays if you try to do everything. Wouldn’t it be nice for some of them to do a Christmas in July?

Ultimately you need to care for yourself

The most important person to take care of and listen to is yourself. You need to create boundaries and schedule personal time to unwind and relax. You do not want the stress to overcome you and ruin the holidays. You need to jeep your personal schedule and maintain some of your usual activities. If you like to exercise, keep your routine to keep you healthy and have a stress relief. If you are a reader, block off some time to read like you would through the year to allow yourself to unwind. Remember to slow down and pay attention to your immediate family and let them be able to take care ot themselves also. So please enjoy the holidays but remember to find time to relive your stress and enjoy the time of holidays as they were intended.