Caregiver Burnout

Norah* Feels Broken

It’s 4:15 am, and Norah* should be on her Peloton or meal prepping. But instead, she’s hiding under the covers, counting the hours until she can be here again.

She knew she was born to be a helper. Being a nurse isn’t just her job – it is her identity and calling. Only lately, being a nurse feels more like a chore. As the alarm blares its rude awakening, Norah wonders if she will ever feel like herself again.

Looking to her day ahead, Norah feels dread.

What kind of horrible suffering will I see today? Is anything I’m doing helping my patients or only prolonging the inevitable?

She takes pride in being responsible and great in a crisis, always the first person to offer a helping hand or pick up an extra shift. But now, those extra shifts happen all the time, and everyone else seems to be holding up just fine.

Norah started having trouble concentrating, making silly mistakes. She even found connecting with her patients and families, who used to bring her so much joy and satisfaction, difficult.

“What is wrong with me?”

Nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong with Norah. Burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue often come with working in healthcare.

Immersion in the suffering of others isn’t normal. Burnout is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Working with trauma, illness, and death changes us.

These feelings happen to nearly everyone in the helping professions from time to time – the feeling that nothing you do is ever enough, a numbing of your empathy, and flattening of joie de vivre.

Norah felt emotionally drained, detached, cynical, and numb. She had tried everything she could think of to feel alive and excited about life and her career again – nothing had worked. She initially rejected therapy because “I’m not crazy!”

After attending a workshop I gave to nurses on passion and purpose, she decided to inquire about a one-on-one session.

Getting The Sparkle Back

Together, we looked at Norah’s “Why” she became a nurse and what she felt was her mission in life. We explored activities, people, and places that make her feel alive and strategized reorganizing her day to include more of those.

We looked at what it means to be a helper and how challenges with perfectionism and people-pleasing contributed to her feelings. We reviewed her day with an eye to the tasks she enjoys and those that drain her. Then, we worked to create a better work-life balance.

Ultimately, Norah decided to stay in nursing but switch roles. She is loving her new position and just got engaged.

Norah is not alone.

While burnout is not a new problem, our healthcare system experienced incredible strain over the last few years. The intensity of a hospital or ICU environment, lack of support, increased responsibility, and issues with boundaries all contribute to what some call a national crisis, especially for our doctors and nurses.

I see all you do; I’ve lived it. With over five years of experience in multiple large urban hospitals working shoulder to shoulder with doctors and nurses on COVID, Hospice, and ICU floors, I have seen firsthand the incredible ways, despite so many challenges, you continue to show up for your patients and their families.

But who shows up for you? And perhaps most importantly, do YOU show up for you?

For many healthcare folks, self-care doesn’t make the to-do list. And before you know it, you’ve used up and given away all your beautiful energy and spirit, and there is nothing left for you.

Taking Care of You.

Working in health care is hard, and everyone needs a little help to process the things you see every day. It isn’t normal to constantly watch people code and die or to expect that no matter how strong, capable, and caring we are that we can cope with the trauma of seeing such human suffering every day.

I have helped many doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and social workers wade through the uncertainty of burnout and vicarious trauma to a life of renewed passion, purpose, and joy. Together, we will explore the life you dream of, who you want to be, and how you want to feel in your work – and we will chart a course to get you there.

We will evaluate your self-care practices and create a plan to get you back to your best self.

Come home to yourself on your terms. click or call today for your free consultation. Let’s get you a space to process your thoughts and feelings so you can be your best self at home and work and continue to love what you do.

*Name changed to protect client confidentiality.