It´s Important to Be Able to Cope with Stress and Burnout

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As a future IHP, it is important to be able to cope with stress and ensure that I do not burnout (Ross & Deverell, 2004:305). Along with a thorough understanding of what stress and burnout is, I will use a personal past experience to explain how I will develop stress-management strategies and implement them in my behaviour.
Stress and Burnout:
Stress is understood as the way in which a person responds to the demands, both physical and emotional, which have been placed on them. It is a reaction to change and stress can become more apparent when the requirements a situation are greater than your ability to cope. Stress is a subjective response. Not everyone will feel stressed, and experience the same symptoms, when exposed to the same circumstance. (Ross & Deverell, 2004:301). Stress can be both positive and negative, labelled eustress and distress respectively. Stress is a result of factors called stressors which may be work-related, family-related or due to your personality (Gibson, Swarts and Sandenbergh 2:105).
Burnout is a culmination of stress, characterised by emotional depletion and tiredness, accompanied by depersonalisation and decreased productivity. Burnout is due to the overwhelming emotional pressure of dealing with people’s. Work-related contributors to burnout include conflict and excessive demands (Ross & Deverell, 2004:304). Those experiencing burnout may be “psychologically and emotionally distancing themselves from others” as it is described by Ross and Deverell(2004:305). Their attitude may become indifferent and pessimistic (Smith, Segal & Segal, 2014:1). As self-esteem diminishes, feelings of depression and inadequacy emerge. The symptoms of burnout affect ones physical well-being or may be behavioural or cogn...

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...entify the underlying causes (Ross & Deverell, 2004:302). By doing this I will be able to understand a person’s personal situation and see it from their perspective. I am now more sensitive to the stress of others. This will stimulate a more compassionate and understanding attitude, make me less judgemental and ensure that I promote the dignity of my patients and all those I interact with. (Chochinov, 2007:184). I also understand that the effects of stress may be specific to the circumstance and vary from one person to another
Stress affects everyone, managing stress is so vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and preventing burnout (Ross & Deverell, 2004:305). In my future as an IHP I will use the valuable knowledge I have gained, along with the reflection of a personal experience to manage my own stress and promote empathy when faced with the stress of others.

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