Last Friday, I left for my office at 7:30AM. I had a fully booked clinic all day but felt happy about having the week end off. Between patient encounters, I frequently checked my emails and addressed questions from my nurse practitioners, hospice team and my rehab teams, including sending the prescriptions for comfort kits, Durable Medical Equipment , etc. One of my colleagues emailed me asking to see his patient sooner for worsening dementia . When I left my office around 5PM to go to one of my skilled nursing facilities , my secretary reminded me that my new patient appointments are only available in March or April. After seeing some patients at the rehab, I came home around 7:30PM. After dinner, I should sit down in front of my laptop and completed some of clinical notes.
Besides my clinical duties, I also have leadership roles at my nursing homes, hospice program and my hospital. This gives me many meetings to attend and various agendas to address as a leader. I guess I am an effective person as I have been working like this for years. I have been trying to do my best for all of my roles but I admit that I do get stress, fatigue and work burnouts from time to time. So I decided to create the self-care checklist for my wellbeing and do it every week to prevent burnout.
Do light exercise after dinner most days - work on a stepper, a rowing machine
Do vigorous exercise once a week - weight training, treadmill
Walk outside with my wife(& daughter) and my dog weekends
Fasting or eat very less on Sunday morning for weight control
Read the bible, do prayers and reflections every night
Literature reading
Play my favorite songs by musical instruments at least once a week. Practice the instruments (piano, electric wind instrument) 15 minutes most days (learn scales & riffs)
Attend church worship service on Sundays with my family
Watch my favorite TV dramas for 40 minutes in the evening
Try to keep one day of admin time & day off per week
Reference :
Empowering the Health and Well-Being of the Palliative Care Workforce: Evaluation of a Weekly Self-Care Checklist Swan, Amy et al. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Volume 61, Issue 4, 817 - 823