Overworked Yet Underappreciated: Supporting Our Healers

Read Titus 3

We are all affected by stress. Those of us who have experienced it know what impact it has on us. We see how it changes the way we think and act. We become needy and irritable, aggressive, and anxious when experiencing stress. Stress is part of life, but how we manage our response to stress will determine whether that stress will negatively affect our lives.

For the past few weeks, I have been hearing an increasing number of Code Gray announcements over our public address system at the healthcare facility I work at. Code Grey is an alert in the medical system that someone is at risk of hurting themselves or others. In a hospital, which could mean an irate patient, a frustrated family member, and a few security guards standing by.

However, healthcare workers are subjected to a variety of psychosocial pressures, such as working night shifts, long hours, patient care demands, medical disputes, workplace violence, and emotional distress because of poor interactions with patients and coworkers, as well as poor promotion prospects. Constant exposure to these psychological dangers has a negative impact on the health of healthcare personnel.

Our healthcare workers are crucial to performing health systems and the achievement of national and global health goals because they safeguard and improve people’s health. Healthcare workers must be in good health in order to respond effectively to the healthcare demands of communities.

Many write about how we can help people in crisis: how to recognize the signs, how to get through tough conversations, and how to say “no” when we’re overwhelmed. But in the past years, we’ve also had to deal with an unexpected flood of “low-stress, high-reward” situations.

The ideal would be the “low-stress, high-reward” ones where all parties benefit from giving and taking.

Whereas “high-stress, low-reward” situations are those in which they ask for something (a favor, money) that you can’t provide and feel bad about refusing.

We’re hanging onto the threads of society. We’re making it work by cultivating tolerance, love, and understanding. It’s sad because it has become less about living and more about just getting by.