Home health aides need to practice personal care if they want to be good at caring for their patients. Working in the home health industry can be hectic, and it can also be challenging. You could find yourself working for hours on end, multiple days every week. When the stresses and challenges of work pile up, you could end up feeling burned out. But is there anything you can do to prevent this from happening?
The answer lies in prioritizing self care. When you take time out of your day to focus on your personal needs, you’ll be more focused at work. Instead of feeling drained all the time, you’ll feel rejuvenated. So what can you do to start practicing self care today?
Table of Contents
1. Scheduling Time For Yourself
It’s been seen that seniors prefer to live in their own homes over nursing homes. Often, they find themselves turning old alone. But with the demand for home health aides increasing, and people stepping in to fill the role, seniors are finding someone next to them, who supports them. With so many elderly people wanting to grow old in the comfort of their homes, home health aides need to provide the very best kind of care.
To be great at your job, you’ll need to schedule time in your day that’s just for yourself. Even thirty minutes to an hour, where you can relax, will be more than enough to rejuvenate you. During this time, you can do what you find fun, or what makes you feel happy. You can read books, watch movies, or just eat your favorite meal. Ensure that during this time, you focus on relaxing.
2. Spending Time With Loved Ones
Not only is spending time by yourself important, but you should also spend time with your family and friends. Try to spend time with friends who are the same age as you. When you spend most of your time caring for elderly patients, it’s easy to forget about your social circle. Call your friends, arrange get togethers, and message them in your free time.
Socializing with your friends and family is a great way to detach from your professional life, and simply live in the moment. It can help you relieve stress as well. Sometimes, you need to let yourself catch a break from work. Talking to your loved ones and spending time with them is a great way to unwind.
3. Focus On Your Physical Health
It’s been seen that home health aides are so focused on their caregiving duties that they start neglecting their personal health. It’s important for home health aides to try to stay active. If you do between half an hour to an hour of physical activity every day, it can lower your blood pressure. You’ll also be able to reduce your cholesterol, and feel more energetic.
If you think you don’t have an hour to spare, then try to work out for just fifteen minutes a day. You’ll also need to eat a healthy and nutritious diet, avoid drinking or smoking, and get an adequate amount of sleep.
Consider getting insurance for home health care aide as well. When you work as a home health aide, you become vulnerable to certain career risks. A patient who is unhappy with your services could decide to sue you. When you have insurance for home health care aide, you can protect your finances as well as your career. To learn more about insurance for home health care aide, click here.
4. Practice Mindfulness
You can make use of breathing techniques, mindfulness practices, as well as meditation, to ground yourself. You’ll be able to relax and feel at peace. Meditation, in particular, can help you promote your well-being. It also provides an energy boost and helps you stay focused. You’ll not only be able to improve your physical and mental health, but your general outlook towards life as well.
5. Finding The Right Community
You’re not alone in working as a home health aide. This means that there are plenty of people out there who understand your struggles. Try to look for support groups for home health aides. You could also search online for people who work in the same profession as you. Social media is a great place to find them. You can also look through networking apps or even discussion forums, to find other home health aides.
6. Personal Check Ins
You could be so busy taking care of patients throughout the day, that you forget to do a personal check in. However, this can end up negatively affecting you. When you do daily personal check ins, you can monitor how you feel. If you’re about to feel burnt out, you’ll know, and can take steps to prevent that from happening.
Take the time to ask yourself about how you’re feeling, as well as whether everything is alright or not. Although your job is about putting the patient first, you shouldn’t forget to care for yourself either.
Conclusion
Prioritizing self care helps you ensure that you can be more focused, and overall better at your work. Not only is caring for your patients important, but caring for yourself as well. Use the tips in this guide to begin your self care journey starting today.
Sources:
- Staff, ‘6 Ways For Home Health Aides To Prioritize Self Care’, viewed October 26th 2022, https://www.specialtouchhomecare.com/resources/caregiver-support/6-ways-for-home-health-aides-to-prioritize-self-care/
- Staff, October 1st 2020, ‘Important Self Care Strategies For Home Health Care Workers’, viewed October 26th 2022, https://preferredcares.com/important-self-care-strategies-for-home-health-care-workers/
- Fabulon, DF, ‘Self-Care For Nurses – 25 Proven Strategies To Take Better Care Of Yourself’, viewed October 26th 2022, https://www.nursingprocess.org/self-care-for-nurses.html
- Staff, ‘Self Care For Nurses: At Work And At Home’, viewed October 26th 2022, https://www.performancehealth.com/articles/self-care-for-nurses-at-work-and-at-home