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Crisis Intervention
Week Three
Keeping the Balance
"Stress: Everybody knows what it is, no one knows what it is.
"Stress is the spice of life." Hans Selye
Chinese word for Crisis has two characters:
One represents danger
The other represents opportunity
Balance of Healthy Self-Care
'As Health Care Providers we are responsible to take care of ourselves so that we can be available physically, emotionally and spiritually to those we respond to. Throughout training we are told that safety is first, of yourself and of others. That's an example of caring for ourselves.
Stress affects our body in many ways, physically, behaviorally and emotionally. Have you thought about how you react to stress? Do you get tight in the gut? Or headaches? Or unable to sleep? Some people get visibly anxious, while others get quiet and withdrawn. We will be looking at these issues and how we can still present ourselves as calm and in control in difficult situations.
Balance is a continuous process that we are engaged in. Let me relate a couple of stories about this issue of balance. During the time I was volunteering with the ambulance in rural Alaska, there were times when I just had to say, "I'm turning off my pager and phone and taking the day off." Our group understood that need and always tried to cover for each other. We were essentially on call 24/7 times 52 weeks.
Pete has been a "super EMT". He's always at the station helping out, taking twice the shifts that are required and just "living EMS." Pete also works a 40+ hour week at the mill every week. His family consists of his wife, a stay-at-home mom since their third child, and their 3 children.
This has been an exceptionally busy two weeks in the EMS system and Pete has definitely done more than his share as usual. He comes home after drill one evening and his 8 year old son says, "Dad, I'm really mad at you." "You forgot to come to any of my t-ball games this weekend and you promised!"
Pete had lost his balance.
These are some examples of why we look at these issues of stressors, coping skills and helping people learn to maintain a healthy balanced lifestyle. Just creating an awareness will help you learn to deal more effectively with your stressors.
Activities for Week Three:
- Reading
- Participation:
- Respond to the questions posted in your tree discussion group mid-week and end-of-week. Put some thought into your responses and consider what would be effective for yourself as well.
- Article Points:
- Read Article #2 on your article list and write a review. You will post this in the Tree Article Group under the Article #2 Topic and also discuss the scenario. This is a time to bring into the discussion your wisdom from reading, the text, the articles and other life experience.
- Project # 1:
- In the first two weeks you have interviewed a seasoned provider, have read about other people's viewpoints about job related stress, have taken a Stress Assessment and hopefully have started thinking about some of the issues surrounding a job in the health care business.
- The Personal Inventory is a paper designed for reflection and assessment of the stressors and stress level in your life and an evaluation of the effectiveness of your coping skills. An additional purpose is to encourage giving oneself permission and responsibility for maintaining that balance of a healthy self. Include an evaluation of your stress quiz but not a copy of the results. This paper should be a minimum of 2 pages but what I'm really looking for is some substance.
- Watch the movie, Patch Adams, and type your response to the following questions. A copy of this response will be part of your Project One.
- 1. Identify some of the emotions that you saw expressed and explain how or when you might have similar reactions.
- 2. What can this biography teach you about the importance of maintaining a healthy balance?
- 3. What can this biography teach you about treating each person with respect and sensitivity in responding to their needs?
- Project One is due in your Personal Conference on the Web Board by 10/21/2006 at Midnight. Please no emails or hard copies. You will post the components of the Project into your personal conference on the Web Board.
Some Definitions:
Health Care Provider - anyone who is in the business of providing an aspect of health care to others. This class is part of the curriculum for the EMT Paramedic student but is also available to others who see the benefit of learning new skills and tools to respond in situations more effectively.
Stress - a state of physical or psychological arousal
Stressor - any agent or situation that causes stress
Cumulative stress reaction - stress reaction that results from continuous exposure to work and non-work stressors. This reaction,may also be called "burn-out." Usually it is not associated with a critical incident.
Burn-out - occurs when coping mechanisms no longer buffer the job stressors. It can compromise personal health and well-being.
Anxiety - an emotional state caused by stress. It is characterized by increase in sympathetic nervous system tone.
Defense mechanisms - adaptive functions of the personality that usually help an individual adjust to stressful situations.
Critical incident - acute stress reaction - a reaction that occurs at the scene or shortly after the event.
Delayed stress reaction - a stress reaction that occurs days, weeks, or months after a critical incident, also may be called post-traumatic stress disorder.
The following poem was written by a person in a group that I was leading several years ago. Many of the issues mentioned were part of this person's way to talk about some of the issues they had to face and some ways to retrain themselves.
Letting Go
To "let go" does not mean to stop caring,
It means I can't do it for someone else.
To "let go" is not to cut myself off,
It's the realization I can't control another.
To "let go" is not to enable,
But to allow learning from natural consequences.
To "let go" is to admit powerlessness,
Which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To "let go" is not to try to change or blame another,
It's to make the most of myself.
To "let go" is not to care for,
But to care about.
To "let go" is not to fix,
But to be supportive.
To "let go" is not to judge,
But to allow another to be a human being.
To "let go" is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes,
But to allow others to affect their own destinies.
To "let go" is not to be protective,
It's to permit another to face reality.
To "let go" is not to deny,
But to accept.
To "let go" is not to nag, scold or argue,
But instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
To "let go" is not to adjust everything to my desires,
But to take each day as it comes, and cherish myself in it.
To "let go" is not to regret the past,
But to grow and live for the future.
To "let go" is to fear less and love more.
-Author anonymous
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