YOUR FIRST DAY AS A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

Can you remember the excitement and enthusiasm you felt as you launched your health care career?  I was thrilled that my school days were behind me and I was eager to join the ranks of "real professionals."  I could hardly wait for the work day to begin so that I could practice all that I had learned.  The opportunity to serve and make a difference in the lives of others was more than a job, it was a mission.  But later I experienced those same opportunities to serve as overwhelming demands flying in my direction and I resented them.  Professionals who begin to experience burnout often withdraw their enthusiasm and perform tasks without investing in them.  It's sounds paradoxical, but that very withdrawal of dedication leads to worsening symptoms of burnout.  With no intention of sounding like Polly Anna or an ostrich with my head in the sand regarding health care system problems, (I know there are significant staffing challenges, reimbursement challenges and difficult people in the form of coworkers, leaders and patients all around you) but still  I invite you to think about your next work day as though it were your first day on the job.  Pretend if you have to.  Look around as if the environment were brand new and in the process perhaps you'll see there are opportunities to serve.  Perhaps if you give yourself 100% to that service, you may discover the joy you felt on that first day on the job, when the opportunity to make someone's life a bit easier was reason enough to care about even the tiniest task.