Burnout in the Care Industry

Stress Awareness Month is an opportunity to help break the stigma around stress: the last year has been an extremely difficult time for us all, so take time out of your day to relax, breath and learn about burnout prevention.

The care sector is a challenging and tough place to work and it’s also well known that there is a higher than average level of stress than most other sectors. Whilst caring and supporting others can be very rewarding, it can also drain your emotional reserves and overtime may result in burnout.

A person can develop burnout if they’ve been under stress for a long time. It’s a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. It can be hard to anticipate when burnout will strike, and without some form of self intervention, it’s easy to head towards, which can cause physical body changes that can make you vulnerable to illnesses such as colds and the flu.

Dealing with burnout requires the “Three R” approach:

Recognize – Watch for the warning signs of burnout

Reverse – Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress

Resilience – Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health

We have highlighted some recovery strategies below that are useful in different situations. Some of these strategies will work for you, while others won’t, so find a balance and best practices that feels right to you.

• Stop and calm your mind
• Reach out for help
• Focus on the basics – Sleep, exercise and a balanced diet
• Understand your values
• Say “no”, politely
• Positive thinking
• Fresh air
• Revive an old hobby
• Meditation

Resetting yourself after burnout can be daunting — but by choosing to address it, you’ve already taken the first big step.

Supporting workers through digital care

As an organisation there are measures you can take to support your staff. By adopting digital and eliminating paper based processes this will help your team to become more efficient and therefore, have more time.

Here at Care Control Systems, our care management software has been designed to make recording information as easy as possible. We’ve combined everything you need to effectively run your care organisation into a user-friendly app that you can access from your smartphone, tablet, or desktop computer. With no need to file and store reams of paperwork, Care Control allows you to store all your valuable information in one place and you can access it at the touch of a button. By using real-time data, this removes the stress and fears of inaccuracy when recording important information.

Click here to book your personalised demonstration today, and take that first step in improving the lives of your service users and team!

Source: BMA – Home | British Medical Association