work-life balance is out of whack tell a different story. When work
overwhelms any possibility of a satisfying outside life, only 47% say
they "like or love" their job, and the tone can become one of despera-
tion.
"I haven't had a vacation in 18 months," says the administrator of a
Northeastern surgery center. "I am at my breaking point. It does no
good to have 5 or 6 weeks of time off available if there is no time to
take it." A charge nurse at a Texas hospital says she's caught in a
never-ending cycle of misery: "I go home tired and hungry, never get
an uninterrupted lunch break and lay awake at night with work issues
still spinning in my head," she says. "Then I go to work tired, and it
starts all over again."
'Make it happen'
Can you be in the healthcare trenches and still find the time and ener-
gy to enjoy your life away from work? Absolutely, says Kris Sabo, RN,
executive director of the Pend Oreille (Idaho) Surgery Center. But,
she adds, "to have work-life balance, you have to make a commit-
3 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J a n u a r y 2 0 1 7
• ENJOYING THE RIDE Kris Sabo, RN, (with patient accounts rep Allison Stone, CBCS, CASC, and scheduler/receptionist Eva Ragsdale) finds time to pursue numerous
outside interests with her husband, Tom, including camping and experimental light aircraft. "To have work-life balance, you have to make a commitment," she says.
Steve
Sanchez
Tom
Sabo
