Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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shifts. Inside the tents, nurses sit in comfortable recliners, meditate, put on headphones to listen to music or watch videos of relaxing nature scenes. Northwell Health has also expanded its employee mental health hotline services, and psychologists and social workers are made available. "Our nurses excelled when they responded to the crisis, not knowing what they were going to face," says Ms. White. "They knew if they didn't help, patients would not have received the care they needed. We're grateful for their grit, and we plan to have services in place for years to come to help them cope with what they saw." Avoiding burnout Summer Logan has spent the last four years as a certified surgical tech at a hospital in Portland, Ore., working what many providers would consider a cakewalk of a schedule: four 10-hour days a week. But when COVID-19 hit and elective surgeries shut down, Ms. Logan and many of her coworkers were redeployed to the COVID-19 intensive care unit. Her agreeable schedule ended in April, replaced by a graveyard shift: three 12-hour nights in a row. "It was a huge adjustment, but you make the best of the situation," says Ms. Logan. "I actually found some lifelong friends in the ICU, so it was a blessing in disguise." How can someone who treated patients for a disease that has killed more than 200,000 Americans still see the good in the world? Ms. Logan made self-care a priority. She began working out a gym that offered meditation and mindfulness classes, and scheduled spa treat- ments once a month. She went for long walks and cooked meals at home. She also relied on her coworkers to keep her mentally strong. Some days were harder than others, but she persevered. Ms. Logan returned to the surgery department in the middle of June when elective procedures resumed, but her memories of the ICU stick with her. One of the hardest to process is thinking back to the families who couldn't see their loved ones. "When I'm at work, I'm very good at compart- mentalizing, because I'm hyper-focused on what needs to be done," she says. "You just have to put all of your needs aside." That attitude cuts both ways. The dedication healthcare professionals show toward patient care is inspiring, but can come at the expense of their own mental well-being. "If you care for yourself and put yourself first, you have the availability to be present for your patients," says Alyson McLean, CRNA, a nurse anes- thetist at Boston Children's Hospital. "It's the same at home. If you're whole, you have the strength and resiliency to be present for your loved ones. We don't have those abilities when we're burned out." Burnout is multifaceted — physical, mental and emotional — and caused by the immense amount of additional work surgical professionals are hav- ing to endure just to maintain pre-COVID levels of productivity. Everyone has been forced to think differently and pivot to new protocols and restric- tions in their personal and professional lives. There's been no let-up. "It's mentally exhausting," says Dr. Murray. "Healthcare professionals are on a learning 2 2 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 Lee S. Weissman/Northwell Health SHOW OF SUPPORT Lean on friends and loved ones to get through this challenging time.