Today marks World Mental Health Awareness Day and the theme for this year is “Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority”.

Healthcare workers, in comparison to other workers, face higher levels of psychological and emotional stress. The challenges faced in terms of dealing with patients, customers and residents are exacerbated by workloads, long shifts and time demands. These issues increase workers' chances of burnout and stress.

All of these factors have been further strengthened by the COVID19 pandemic. As we hope to enter a post-pandemic world, the impact of the last 2 years on healthcare workers cannot be ignored. With over 140,000 leaving the sector due to the immense challenges they felt personally and professionally.

Pharmacists, optometrists and care staff are often in positions of offering support for those in your care’s mental wellbeing. This can add pressure to your own mental health and should be addressed.

Thankfully today there are fantastic resources available for everyone to access on understanding mental health and wellbeing and how to deal with what you are feeling. As always, the main message is to reach out and speak to someone you trust or trained professionals at mental health charities such as Mind.

The NHS has put together the 5 ways to well-being, these are simple behaviours we can adopt to support our mental health and wellbeing.

Connection

Social interaction is often cited as one of the most important contributing factors to maintaining positive well-being. Within work, it is important to build relationships with your colleagues.

For locums and care staff, this can often be challenging due to the nature of the role in terms of changing locations and teams. There may be branches or care homes you frequently visit so to build rapport with the team you could try to engage with them by heading for a walk at lunchtime.

If you’re on a stayaway contract in an area it could be beneficial to build connections in the local community. Typically localities have many community-led events and initiatives such as walking groups for people to get involved, get active, and get to know each other.

Get active

Daily activities have a massive impact on your overall happiness and well-being. Being active doesn’t have to involve the gym if that’s not something you’re interested in. But if it is, gyms offer multiple classes for members that are a great way to meet people and get your endorphins going.

Getting outside for walks in the morning, at lunchtime, or after work are great for showering your head from the pressures of your role. Some ways to increase your daily step count are walking to work, getting off the bus one stop earlier, or taking the stairs instead of the lift.

Be mindful

During your busy shift, it can be difficult to stop and appreciate the moment when you have prescriptions to fill, patients to consult and a team to support. However, loneliness affects 1 in 4 of us making it likely a member of your team, or you, are feeling anxious in the workplace. Try to encourage a positive and healthy working environment with regular tea breaks and dedicated lunchtimes for staff to catch up and talk.

Often healthcare workers skip their dedicated breaks as their workload is extremely demanding. Recently the Royal Pharmaceutical Society shared the importance of taking rest breaks for both staff and patient safety. The RPS are also promoting their workplace wellbeing survey for all pharmacists (including students) you can access the survey until the 14th of October.

Keep learning

For pharmacists and optical staff, we recognise that your role involves continuing professional development (CPD) as a requirement that allows you to network, build your knowledge base, and meet new people. Whilst these benefits are clear it is also advantageous to study beyond your field of expertise. This learning doesn't have to be academic it can be an interest you’ve wanted to explore and a fantastic way to meet wider pools of people and develop adult friendships.

In terms of CPD, Locate Learning platform is exclusively for Locate a Locum’s members and is a free service. It allows you access to an extensive library of pharmacy learning content including over 1,000 learning modules, videos and articles.

Give back

Getting involved with community outreach programmes is beneficial for your career, personal life, and well-being. Giving back to your community is a massively rewarding feeling and allows you to build connections with groups of people that you may not have known. As trained healthcare professionals you also have the opportunity to lend your expertise to outreach groups. For example, the Vision Care for Homeless People charity.

Get in touch

At Locate a Locum the well-being of our clients is very important. If you need support within your role please don't hesitate to contact our team and we will do our best to advise and guide you.