By Melanie McDonald MSW.

If you saw a sign in an elevator that reads, “Stress Reduction – This Way!” would you follow the arrow? Would you consider it briefly, and then decline because you didn’t have the time? You wouldn’t be alone in this response. Particularly in a health care setting.

I am a social worker at a busy cancer clinic, filled with countless challenges each day. The healthcare professionals who I work with deliver a tremendous amount of compassion; however most people do not have time in their workday to re-fuel. The same fuel that is essential to deliver compassionate attention to patients and families. The same fuel that is also needed for the work we do in our communities, in our families, and our social networks.

It is no wonder that compassion fatigue is a growing issue among health care providers.

Compassion fatigue is a form of burnout that manifests in physical, emotional and spiritual ways among medical professionals. It is an indirect response to their patients suffering. The term compassion fatigue was initially coined in 1992 by Joinson, who studied nurses in emergency departments (Joinson, 1992). Compassion fatigue is a more complex form of traditional burnout. And complex burnout isn’t only an issue in heath care, but also in other care-focused professions and among policy makers, activists and change makers, to name a few. Working in a helping profession is difficult work, and self-care should be our best friend, but for many reasons it often isn’t. This isn’t solely a failure of individuals to adequately take care of themselves. It is equally a ‘system’ related challenge, requiring long-term solutions in the form of professional, workplace, and government policies.

“Although there is a growing body of research examining burnout in healthcare professions, little attention has been directed towards preventative interventions and promoting wellness (Irving, 2009).”

The Paradox of Stress
We live in a world that thrives on stress. And we fear this same stress that we thrive on. Many self-help books talk about how stress causes illness, and advocate positive thinking as the key to ridding ourselves of the difficulties in life. However we need some level of stress to survive, which means you are completely normal for feeling stressed from time to time. Yes, we may have too much stress in our lives; however trying to rid ourselves of stress is impossible, and undesirable. Perhaps we need to re-frame our relationship with stress?

Instead of running away from stress, in the way that we might run away from difficult emotions like sadness, fear, and shame, is it possible to be present to the difficult stuff? Just as we like to be present for the good stuff? Studies reflect that not only is it possible, that presence to difficult emotion can be deeply beneficial. However, it takes a lot of compassion, and a lot of gentleness. And it gives us more awareness to help us make decisions that will likely mitigate stress instead of putting it in a box. This is known as mindfulness.

Mindfulness: A Way Forward
Mindfulness is about being present in each moment with qualities of non-judgment and compassion (Kabat-Zin, 1979). Mindfulness is a practice, derived from numerous ancient Buddhist philosophies. We know from years of research that cultivating mindfulness helps people more effectively deal with stress and can serve as a viable tool for the promotion of self-care and well-being. Mindfulness teaches us to respond to the various stressors of day-to-day life rather than react. Mindfulness does not rid life of all the difficult stuff, but helps us be in a different relationship, a more kind and affectionate relationship, with life’s challenges.

As demands placed upon health-care providers and other care giving professions continue to increase, promoting concrete wellness initiatives in the workplace is essential. These initiatives require not just workshops and information about managing stress, but a deeper level of support.

Finding collective ways to practice mindfulness (formal and information) in the workplace is a way to shift the way we manage stress individually and as a workplace culture. For example, offering participation in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program, or a noon-hour meditation group for all staff could be implemented and supported. This is one way to deal with the rising levels of burnout and compassion fatigue in healthcare and other sectors.

For more information on mindfulness programs in British Columbia you can go too: http://www.mbsrbc.ca/ and WestCoastDharmaSociety