In honor of National Suicide Prevention Week, we wanted to remind healthcare travelers that your mental health is important. The mental health impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers is serious, and it’s totally understandable how the last few years of fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic has led to stress and burnout. Check out these 10 tips for taking care of your mental health as a healthcare professional.
Check in with friends
When you’re away on assignment it can be easy to fall out of touch with your friends and family back home. However, isolating yourself from your loved ones, whether intentional or not, is never good for your mental health. In fact, friendships have shown to prevent loneliness, increase your sense of belonging and purpose, boost happiness, reduce stress, and more!
Here are some ideas for maintaining your relationships while on assignment:
- Send a virtual gift card or a souvenir from your current travel location
- Schedule times to talk on the phone or video chat
- Start a group chat
- Mail a letter or postcard
- Remember important dates like birthdays and anniversaries
Make new friends on assignment
While it’s important to keep in touch with your friends back home, it’s equally important to make some new friends while you’re traveling. Even though you’ll only be on that assignment for 13 weeks, you can still forge life-long friendships in that time! Get to know your colleagues and invite them out for coffee or drinks to bond. Or try making friends in the area outside your facility by attending local activities or signing up for an app like Bumble BFF where you can easily meet people looking for friends in your area.
Lean on your recruiter
Your relationship with your recruiter is essential because as a traveler, your recruiter is your main resource, advocate, and touchstone all in one. A recruiter is there to make sure you have everything you need to be successful, and part of that is making sure you’re doing okay mentally. Know that it’s more than okay to reach out to your recruiter and let them know if you’re struggling. They can be a shoulder to cry on as well as your biggest champion to improving any work conditions that may be hindering your mental health. Even if you work with multiple recruiters through Fusion Marketplace, the best ones will still be there for you no matter what.
Know when to take a break
One of the best parts of being a healthcare traveler is the ability to take time off when and where you want. But just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you always take advantage of it. If you’ve been taking contracts back-to-back, remember that time off is crucial for your mental well-being and shouldn’t be neglected.
“Vacations remove us from situations we often associate with stress,” says Dr. Susan Siklos, a registered psychologist at TELUS Health Care Centres Mental Health clinic in Vancouver. “They allow you to have time to sleep, relax, and connect with the people and activities that are important to you - all of which improve mental health.”
We’ll always have jobs for you at Fusion Marketplace. Take a well-deserved break when your mental health needs it and know that our awesome travel jobs will be waiting for you when you get back. There will always be incredible opportunities, but your mental health is indispensable. Put yourself first!
Consider teletherapy
We know what you’re thinking. “I don’t need therapy, I’m fine!” And while that may be true, therapy is great for everyone. Even if you feel like you’re doing okay mentally, there are still great skills you can take away from therapy. And if you are interested in therapy, but don’t know where to start, teletherapy is a great option for travelers and more readily available than ever before!
A lot more therapists are offering virtual appointments these days, and if there aren’t any in your area, there are specific teletherapy services you can use too. These services offer a variety of communication methods including video calls, phone calls, and messaging. Some popular ones include:
Create a routine
When you’re on the road a lot, it can be hard to fall into a routine. However, a consistent routine is incredibly important for your mental health. Routine and schedule have been proven to decrease stress levels, improve the quality of your sleep, and boost physical health and happiness.
We know your days may look different depending on your shift schedule and more, but there are some things you can always control. Try establishing morning and nighttime routines and stick to them. Have a cup of coffee every morning before you get ready or take 20 minutes to read every night before bed. Whatever you decide is your ritual, repeat these steps every day to create a feeling of control and comfort in your life.
Click to download this wellness bingo card. We challenge you check off wellness activities until you have a bingo or blackout, and don't forget to share your progress with us on socials!
Limit your media intake
It’s only natural to want to stay informed, but if we’ve learned anything the past couple years of the pandemic, too much scrolling and media intake can be detrimental. Even before the pandemic, studies have shown that doomscrolling, or continuously consuming negative news, can cause fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and more.
Staying informed is important, but moderation is key when it comes to consuming news and media. Try setting a limit for how long you read or watch the news every day and stick to that boundary. You can also make it a habit to seek out positive news to maintain feelings of balance.
Take advantage of benefits
Depending on your agency, you may have access to mental health benefits or services. One benefit is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). An EAP provides a wide variety of services like advice lines, short-term counseling, and more. If you have healthcare insurance through your employer, mental health services like teletherapy may be available
Write in a journal
Keeping a journal is another thing you can add to your routine to not only keep tabs on your mental health but help improve it too, with mental health benefits like reducing anxiety and depression, increasing memory, and improving immunity.
Journaling looks different for everyone. You can write out all your thoughts as they come to mind, bullet list your feelings, or doodle your thoughts and feelings. Find what works for you and use it as a tool to stay in touch with how you’re feeling and preserve your travel memories to reflect on later.
Spend time outdoors
You may already know that going outside is beneficial to your mental health, but it can be easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of travel life. Even when you’re busy, you’d be surprised how refreshing a 15-minute walk can be. Here are some other ideas for getting outdoors while on assignment:
- Visit a state or local park for a walk or picnic
- Bring or rent a bike to go sight seeing
- Go camping
- Join a local sports league
- Try out a winter sport like skiing, ice skating, or snowboarding if you’re at a location with cold weather
It’s okay to not be okay. In a profession where you’re constantly putting other people’s needs before your own, know that it’s okay and healthy to put yourself first sometimes. You can’t take care of other people if you aren’t taking care of yourself first. As a traveler-first platform, Fusion Marketplace supports you fully.
