Can we all readily admit that we wouldn’t be quite so co-dependent on caffeine to get through our day/shifts if having a routine in the healthcare industry was possible? I mean, a lot of us entered this field because we were excited for the every-day-something-is-different charade. But let’s be honest clinicians, it’s exhausting. So if you’ve listened to our first podcast already and even if you haven’t, check out some hopefully helpful tips to make your routine both inside and outside of work a little bit more manageable.
Eat the same breakfast every day. Now, it can differ slightly whether it’s the raspberry greek yogurt or the strawberry greek yogurt - do you. I only pay .79 cents each week for greek yogurt so that’s my go to, and I too work in healthcare which means your girl loves a good deal. But a) sometimes you don’t know when your next opportunity is to eat b) you literally don’t have to think about planning this every.single.week c) EAT, just because the possibility your patient may pass out is part of your everyday doesn’t mean you have to be a part of that statistic.
Have that emotional support water bottle. Just like above, you never know when you’ll get the opportunity to drink water and although this is one of the basic necessities to human survival, it’s the easiest thing to both forget and lack the time to do when you’re in the nitty gritty of patient care. Once you’ve found that water bottle that reminds you of that once clingy relationship you had, you’ll find thats its the one and only way you’ll remember to stay hydrated and also be willing to go back to clingy.
Find that one pair of shoes, those fun or boring socks, and buy a weeks worth of your uniform. I.e. if you can afford five days worth of those scrubs you love then do it. Remember, the value in having a routine is the convenience it affords you. Less Options = More Happiness. So bless those unflattering scrubs, polos, khakis, etc. that most health settings require. At least you only have to plan to do one load of laundry every Sunday and planning your outfit is one less thing your brain has to prioritize every day.
Take advantage of your lunch break by changing up your scenery. Get out of your unit or office. Get out of the building if you can. Your lunch is that time to take care of you and thankfully, it’s a requirement to offer full time employees a lunch break after x amount of hours worked. So if a lunch break isn’t part of your routine leave that routine and find or start a new one. You bring more value to your patients and your company if you’ve fed both your body and soul - eating your lunch separate from your workspace is one of the best ways to implement doing so.
LEAVE WORK AT WORK. You are not paid for the time you spent thinking about your clinical caseload when driving in to or driving home from work. Healthcare is still a business. Start thinking about your personal time as a return on your investment. Are you being paid enough to respond to emails, document your notes, or ruminate on your patients outside of your hours? The answer to that is always NO. We are a part of a sacrificial industry by nature, don’t sacrifice your personal time too. Listen to your go-to podcast (hopefully we’re talking the Caffeinated Clinicians), jam out to Taylor’s version of Fearless, or bask in those little moments of silence before the intercom is announcing your next patient or alerting you to the next code blue.
Your goal is to control for all the tiny moments in which you can create a routine that works for you. Because when you work for you, you work best for your patients. We don’t get the opportunity to know what our days may always look like but at least you’ve eaten, stayed hydrated, maybe gone outside, got to forgo that one load of laundry, and scream “Fearless” on your drive in. Because you’re exactly that. You got this caffeinated clinicians, you always have.
- Love, Elle
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