Time out for self

It’s an unusual feeling when you have time off to do whatever you want and it isn’t or doesn’t have to be work related! I recently found myself in this rather enlightening but strange situation over a few weeks where Easter and Anzac public holidays meant we had two long weekends and with the added bonus of having a fellow NP to share the workload with I managed to have two – four day breaks. This coincided with us having the luxury of securing a small bush property on our beloved South Island West Coast with a ‘hut’ on it- just enough to be considered a step up from camping.

So time out for self one had!! Interestingly though, I felt a certain amount of guilt which I had to address in order to enjoy this time off. Yes my NP colleague was working the Friday(s), but this was in response to me working extra days in order for her to also get extra time off. Yes the practice was still operating while I was “on holiday” … but actually, that’s more about good management that the business can operate perfectly well without me/ us having to be “on site” 24/7. We have fantastic staff who are responsible, reliable and capable of running the practice without us! So I challenged myself around why the guilt. Was it an expectation I had of myself, to always be available not only to the staff but the patients ? That’s unhealthy. Was anything less than working a 60 hour week not considered a decent ‘days’ work … Possibly? Hmmm. SO it was a great opportunity to remind oneself that in order to be an effective and safe practitioner and employer I had to change my thinking. I had to think about health and wellbeing for myself in order to look after the health and wellbeing of others. The other concept in this picture is around sustainability of practice. A healthy lifestyle enables me to work longer in terms of years in this setting IF I look after myself both physically and mentally in the current time. This is something I will need to work on. It does not rank highly on my list of self care needs, BUT I do know the importance of time away from work both physically and mentally. I come back refreshed and keen to start work on Monday morning. I see things with more clarity. The complex presentations remain just that – BUT how I am going to address the different aspects of care are more apparent. The patient deserves this and anything less could be seen as incompetence or neglect ???