You can’t pour from an empty cup:

Stress Management for Long Term Care Professionals

Have you ever thought about why Long Term Care burnout hits differently? There are so many needed professionals in this field and yet we are having a hard time continuing to fill and keeps these rolls. While it is a combination of a fast growing aging and high medical need population worldwide, with not enough young professionals entering the field, it is also because it is emotional hard work.

There is the grief that doesn’t always get addressed because there just “isn’t time” when others need your attention. Or that fact that the physical demands are tough on our own aging staff as well. We all know the professionals who care for our grandparents, spouses, family members all deserve a metal for the everyday emotions and labor they put into this incredibly important job. There are so many factors to why this profession is difficult and doesn’t get the attention it deserves that I would love to address, however, I am going to focus on ways to take care of yourself if you are a healthcare professional in this blog.

What is the signs that you are running on empty? And how do we refill our cup when it feels like we don’t have time to breathe?

Burnout: You might be irritable with your co-workers, dreading your shift, showing signs of physical exhaustion and becoming more emotionally detached from your team and those you’re providing care to. Sometimes we decide to ignore these signs, telling ourselves we don’t have time to address them in the moment. But I am here to tell you that they will catch up with you and your body will let you know in some way or another.

Acceptance: It is really hard when you have been a healthcare professional not to just say, “Oh well, that is just how it is and I need to accept it”. But not accepting the actual fact that you are feeling burnout doesn’t allow you to address it and try some different coping skills that can help you manage your stress so you can continue to do your job. Burnout is not admitting that you quit, it is admitting that the same routine is not working well for you anymore and that you may need to pay attention to your own needs. Even as you are doing your job, you can make some adjustments that can help you, your team, and the people you are taking care of. Burnout is circular, meaning you will have your highs and lows and it will circle back around over time and as situations change in the workplace. It will come and go. Each time it comes, you will keep developing ways to take a break, address it and sustain, becoming more resilient each time to you recongize the patterns.

Tips:

Here are some ways to build in coping skills that will help you each time this comes up. I suggestion you bookmark this blog so that you come back here and read it again when you feel you need a refresher on how to address it.

Lifestyle and Healthy living is addressed in the Vintage Generation membership of this organization as well with downloadables, videos and conversations on how to do so in case you are looking for different tips outside of these few bullet points.

Quick resets actually work:

Box breathing as you walk between rooms - box breathing is counting and being present with inhaling, holding and then letting out your breath and repeating. Typical box breathing looks like 10 count in, 5 count hold, 10 count out, 5 count hold, repeat. Breathing is very important for your brain as we don’t always realize we are holding our breath when we are stressed or have anxiety related to a task. Breathwork clears cortisol from our brain that otherwise keeps us feeling stressed and in survival mode.

5 minute walk outside - Reset your scene for a moment. Fresh air, standing outside or sunlight helps us ground where we are in the moment, but a quick walk helps us with our breathing naturally and gets our blood pumping to bring oxygen to the brain and muscles. When we do this, we increase the healthy chemicals in our brain, flushing out the cortisol. Doing this alone or with a team member can really help you feel more ready to take on your next task.

Journal the small wins - If there are particularly hard tasks or situations that feel like a battle everyday, sometimes taking a moment to journal those small wins when they happen can help you hold onto the feeling of that win and carry the emotion through onto the next task. Some may call this practicing gratitude. When there are many moments through out the day that seem rather difficult, a loss of a resident, a bad interaction with a team member or overall fatigue, journaling or practicing gratitude for the “small wins” can help you overcome the more diffiecult moments.

Boundary Setting without Guilt:

It is very hard to not take the day with you once you clock out, especially when you have become emotionally attached to the people that you take care of or when your staff coordinator is calling you to pick up an extra shift because they are short staffed.

Mentally prepare yourself for your home - As your leaving for the day there have been some really tough things that likely have happened or you are feeling the exhaustion or pain from the physical demands of the day. You either are driving to pick up your children or rushing home to cook or take care of some errands. Having a hard time collecting yourself to focus on what is needed of you. This is normal. We are not built to be machines and our bodies are overextended.

In your car before you begin to drive, try to always leave yourself 5 minutes to repeat some of the tips above, but especially box breathing can be helpful. You can say out loud what it is that is weighing on your mind from your shift to identify the way it makes you feel. Then telling yourself that the next shift will take care of it and you will be back when it is your time to handle the next shift’s duties. Allowing yourself to let go of it and change gears to deal with home responsibilities and especially finding a time to rest.

One thing that helped me when I recognized this was happening to me when I was working in LTC everyday, was to breathe, but then pray over my concerns to let them go. You can practice this too, believing in something bigger than yourself. If you don’t pray, saying some positive words and a release so that you can leave feeling that whatever it may be, it will get handled and you can concentrate on yourself and your family. Then truly giving yourself the permission and boundary to let it go and not pick it back up again.

Calls from the facility shouldn’t go unchecked either. No matter our professional position, we need to give clear boundaries of when we are available for calls, whether it be for scheduling, and issues that needs resolved or just staff calling for advice. We need to and should be clear that emergency calls are need to addressed only by those who have given the permission to be on call and that if it is about staffing, you are clear with the coordinator that you will not be answering the phone during certain activities with your family, giving a clear understanding of when you are available. Reminders are needed often of this when you are on your shift so that it doesn’t get forgotten.

Self-Care routine:

Building a mini self-care routine - Think about things that you like to do, makes you feel good or sounds and smells. Taking 10 minutes to build in something that you enjoy. We often forget to “stop and smell the roses”.

How often do you get through your busy day and realize that you haven’t drank water, listened to music or talked to a friend? This should be a non-negotiable for your self-care. Write down a few things that you really enjoy but don’t get to do or things that you know you are neglecting. You can put a reminder on your phone to stop and take 10 or you can ask a friend to help hold you accountable and have them check in with you and do it together over the phone. We all need to be better connected these days. We also can have a music list ready, an adult coloring book, maybe some verses or quotes to look over. Once you decide this is for me, stick to it. Do a couple of these things a day for 10 minutes and you will see a difference in how you handle work and home. Women are especially susceptible to forgetting to take care of themselves as they often put others before them naturally. Stop now and think of one thing that you can make yourself do that you enjoy for 10 minutes a day. Self-care is anything really that brings you a feeling of joy or accomplishment of caring for yourself.

When to ask for help:

It is hard to admit, but sometimes we all need some help - We should all normalize, that employees may become so burnout, overwhelmed and stressed that there is some need for professional help. We often have times in our lives when home and work are really overlapping and what is happening at home is too much and what is happening at work can also be too much. As leaders in the healthcare field we have a responsibility to make sure that there are programs offered to employees that can help and not hinder. Some EAP programs can be helpful, but are there also peer programs where employees support one another that they may be more willing to attend?

Is there the ability to call into work for a mental health day without being put on the spot or made to feel guilty? The U.S. system of work-life balance, especially in the healthcare field is not always the best example, yet we help people everyday in this field alone with an understanding that we are pouring from our own empty cup. Work with your team to find ways to normalize that it is okay to say “uncle” and tap out when needed and ask for that help. We should not feel ashamed. In order to make it through the long haul, we have to address the here and now to build our own resilience as healthcare is currently taking a hit in the U.S. and we will need to find ways to continue to take care of each other.

I hope this has helped you as each time I work on my own research for these articles it also reminds me to be kind and take care of myself.

-Amanda

Coming soon:

I will be releasing a check off sheet that will help us make sure we are addressing the new 2026 Medicaid and Medicare updates and changes. - stay tuned and log into the Wise Academy membership page to get your downloadable copy of the check off list.