Free Essay: Burnout and Combating Compassion Fatigue

Health workers must find a balance between their physical, emotional, and spiritual lives so as to be in the right state to deliver high-quality care to their patients (Chapman, 2007). Failure to do so causes an array of negative health consequences such as increased stress levels, anxiety, and depression. They may also experience reduced morale in the workplace, decreased job satisfaction and reduced productivity which all impact negatively on patient care. Therefore, it is always important for any health worker to find effective stress reduction techniques (Chapman, 2007). Some medical professionals recommend a 3-minute reading to help caregivers relax and focus before starting their work. While some individuals consider this to be a waste of time, I think that it is an essential ritual to promote successful work.

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I believe that reading before starting work prepares a person for the job ahead. It improves cognitive functions which make readers perform better during tests and crisis that may arise in the patient care areas (Wise, 2016). Such problem-solving skills are critical in reducing anxiety and stress when confronted by challenging work conditions as one is confident to handle any problem. Additionally, reading has been shown to increase knowledge and intelligence (Wise, 2016). This promotes a culture of learning which is transferred to the clinical area. As a result, the health professional learns from the patient conditions and discovers better patient care approaches leading to evidence-based care and improved outcomes. Finally, reading also helps a person to relax thus reduce stress before embarking on work.

In conclusion, the work of healthcare providers has several challenging and stressful situations. The idea of reading before embarking on care activities is one that can help to overcome the various job stressors. Reading leads to the acquisition of knowledge and skills which increase confidence and enable healthcare providers to take control of stressful situations with ease. Reading also improves cognitive, and problem-solving skills thus reduce job-related anxiety and stress. Such relaxation ensures that health professionals are at their best thus deliver quality care to their patients.

Reference

Chapman, E. (2007). Radical loving care: Building the healing hospital in America. Nashville, TN: Vaughn Printing.

Wise, A. (2016). 8 Science-Backed Reasons to Read a Real Book. Real Simple. Retrieved 30 December 2016, from http://www.realsimple.com/health/preventative-health/benefits-of-reading-real-books