Nursing Home Social Services Reference/Self Care Intro

Introduction to Self-Care Occupations in a nursing home have among the highest turnover and burn out rates in the healthcare industry. In general, social workers notoriously face high burnout and turnover regardless of the industry. Self-care is imperative to keep burn out at bay and also, ensure residents are receiving the best care. In order to provide care to others, we must first care for ourselves. Practices such as setting boundaries, fostering strong support (friends, family, colleagues), prioritizing rest and self-reflection, managing media exposure, knowing personal triggers, and engaging in self-compassion is required to maintain well-being while serving others. The focus is on intentionally nurturing mental, emotional, and physical health so as to sustain the demanding work required of Social Services workers. It is important to recognize that caring for yourself enables you to better care for clients. Key Components of Self-Care: Support Systems: Building a support system at work and in your personal life is key when you need to seek support. Maintain open communication regarding your workload and any signs of burnout so your leadership can be proactive in supporting you. Engaging with other departments for support is in your best interest since all departments work together in a nursing home. There will be a variety of co-workers you can go to for advice if ever needed. Social workers and nurses work closely together and experience similar burn out issues. Over time they may have developed ways to overcome it and will be likely willing to share with you. Outside of your work, ensure you maintain your personal life. At the end of the day, your personal life will still be there even when the job isn't. Maintain your priorities. Your job is important, but not more important than your life at home which serves as your foundation. If you let your foundation crumble, your work performance will reflect it. Boundaries: This category is huge. Having a clear and consistent boundary keeping your personal life and work separate are imperative to having a healthy life balance. Unless there's an expectation of your role to be on-call or have open communication with work when you're not there, then don't! When you leave work, keep your work items like your laptop and work phone at the office. This allows you to have space to decompress and enjoy your friends, family, and doing hobbies and activities you enjoy. While at work it's important you establish what boundaries you wish to maintain with co-workers and residents. You determine what that looks like and being consistent is key. For example, if a resident asks you about something personal about yourself it is to your discretion to share or not. Or if a co-worker is oversharing about their personal life, you can indulge the conversation or find a polite way to depart. This role is emotionally, physically, and mentally taxing, additional sources like from co-workers are not required of you. As social workers, they know how people tend to overshare with them. That doesn't mean you have to. Self-Awareness: It can be easy to become too engulfed in the daily ongoings at the nursing home. Sometimes it feels as though you never sit down so it's easy to forget eating your lunch or taking a break. YOU NEED TO. Instead of thinking in the moment, remember the long-term negative effects of not taking care of yourself in the moment. A quick walk can do wonders to mitigate any stress you may have been feeling. Sometimes we aren't even aware we are feeling stress, anxiety, or other negative emotions when we don't stop to reflect. Being self-aware is critical to your overall well-being. That note can be finished later, a resident assessment due at the end of the week will get done. You ignoring your needs does not mean you're being more productive. You can take a break, eat your lunch, go chat with one of your favorite co-workers. Identify and understand your red flags. They could be tense shoulders, an uncharacteristic snap at a co-worker, or something smaller, like dizziness from not eating, or drinking enough water. Make sure you monitor yourself so that you can take action and care for yourself in the moment and not later. Review and Reflection: Schedule time for yourself to reflect on your career goals, self-development, work schedule, and if it aligns with who you are, your values, goals, and if you're expressing yourself freely and comfortably in your job and with your co-workers. There's a difference between being proactive and survival. The right fit in terms of leadership, facility, resident type, all are important to consider in a job as demanding in social services at a nursing home. Allowing yourself to reflect daily ensures you continue to choose work that helps you work towards a career and a version of yourself that you like. When the answer is no, that's when tough decisions need to be made. Don't be afraid to make them either. Rest and Relaxation: Sleep is crucial for recovery, relaxation, and overall health. Working long 8–10-hour shifts don't allow for naps during the day so a quick nap after work sometimes does the trick. Going to bed early sometimes isn't in someone's best interest, so ensuring that when you do go to bed you have healthy sleep hygiene. Cool, quiet room, no electronics, definitely no work, are just a few proven ways to get a better night sleep. After work on your off hours are the best times to engage in hobbies and activities you love and make you feel refreshed. Working out, taking a walk, reading, cooking, ect. Unless you are on-call or there is an expectation to have your communications open with work, maintain a strict no work policy while you are home. It is important to keep the spaces separate. This frees you up to enjoy your personal time with family, friends, or doing things you love. Remember, your home life is your foundation and will be there when your job is not. Self-Compassion: Remember to have self-compassion for yourself. Be your biggest cheerleader, offer yourself the same empathy and understanding you offer residents. At times it can feel like we work in a thankless industry even though people do appreciate us, it is rare to hear it out loud. That means you must offer yourself those words of encouragement and believe in them. Life isn't perfect, we will make mistakes, and to reach mastery in any skill or career requires us to take chances and to fail along the way. When you make a mistake, learn from it, let go, and move on. People may think social workers are super hero's, and they are (; but at the end of the day social workers are human too. Ultimate Goal of Self-care Ultimately the goal of self-care is to preserve who you are and the expression of your values, goals, and skills as a social worker. Full self-expression, power and freedom as a person are available when your concerns are not focused on simply surviving. This requires regular attention to yourself and the context in which you regard your work and its achievements. It can also require difficult choices about career, workplace, friends, family and the various communities to which you are connected. Your awareness of yourself as a system of systems will be key.