There’s still a lot of deep grief, PTSD, and burnout caused by COVID that has yet to be fully addressed in health care. Levels of burnout have reached an all time high with 51% of nurses reporting exhaustion and 61% of physicians reporting burnout. This decrease in mental well-being fed into the great resignation with health care having the 2nd highest turnover of any industry.  We need to reimagine what a healthy healthcare system looks like. A tall task as we enter the third spring of the pandemic while being called to tap into deeper reserves of resilience and skill.  A growing body of research shows that mindfulness practices can have life-changing impacts on individuals as well as entire systems. Equanimity—that calmness, composure, and stability that allows us all to be skillful—also helps fortify our ability to be empathetic and compassionate in the face of challenges. If we can imbue our healthcare systems with mindfulness, we can shift the way we view each other, the way we design our systems, the way we make decisions—From educating the next generation of doctors, to talent acquisition, to how we’re getting care out to all people wherever they are. When we tune in to our innate capacity for mindfulness, we’re better equipped to show up for our patients, our loved ones, and ourselves, without burning out. 

Four Mindfulness Tools to Support Healthcare Workers’ Resilience 

If you are one of the healthcare workers who continues to selflessly serve in countless ways as the pandemic evolves, offer yourself a moment of kindness and gratitude. Here are four simple tools, recommended by fellow healthcare professionals, that may help you show up for yourself with some kindness, tap into your strength, and find calm and clarity in the midst of chaos.  The Healing Healthcare Summit is a real-time experience of how mindfulness and compassion practices support not only our mental health, but also the communication, resilience, and relationship tools we all need to thrive. We hope you’ll join this community of caring professionals for three days of networking, peer-to-peer conversations, and research-backed mindfulness practice—Let’s reimagine the future of healthcare together.

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Mindful Staff May 10, 2021

Reena Kotecha March 30, 2021

Christopher Willard and Reena Kotecha November 24, 2020