I was speaking to a friend recently, reflecting on the beginning of our paediatric careers, some fifteen years ago. Without wanting to sound like I’m referring to the olden days, things felt very different then. There was a level of joy and positivity that seems to be missing at times in the current working environment. Be it rota gaps, waiting times, workload, scarcity of funding... it can feel like you are simply trying to survive. It’s therefore easy to understand how one might feel trapped in a negative spiral, disempowered and somewhat helpless faced with day-to-day pressures.
But what if things were different? What if we began to reconnect with the joyful moments at work and acknowledge that we all have the power to do something to improve our own or our colleagues’ wellbeing? Over the last few years, I’ve come to realise that there are actions that I can take as an individual, things I can do within my team and then, wider organisational and cultural level change that I can influence. Here are a few examples.
Changing my mindset
Someone from the recently shared a story about how thankful they were for a three-year-old patient who had made them laugh in the middle of a busy shift. I thought about this a lot afterwards and how powerful it can be to reframe the way we think. Being more present at the moment and valuing those small interactions is something well within my control, so I pledged to give it a go!
Valuing my colleagues
Have you ever had a colleague come up to you at the end of the day to thank you for what you’ve done? Or perhaps received an email with positive comments? That warm feeling of being seen, valued and appreciated. Having experienced this myself, I realised that I had the power to pass that feeling on. By noticing small actions and pointing them out with thanks and praise, I not only contributed to boosting my colleagues’ morale but also felt more positive myself.
Influencing change in my department
Within our South East Scotland Thrive Wellbeing and Innovation Network pilot, we recently discussed how we might nudge people’s experiences of induction in a more positive direction. Through sharing ideas and practice across the region, the community went away and implemented some simple initiatives in their local departments. Some departments focused on using photos to ensure names were being used correctly, others organised an inclusive welcome social event and one team built connection and belonging by designing and producing team stickers. People attended the following meeting with a sense of accomplishment, having collaborated to improve departmental well-being in a small way.
These examples serve as an illustration that our efforts and actions to improve well-being don’t need to be huge, nor do they all need to cost money.
The Thrive Paediatrics team was excited to launch the Thrive Paediatrics resource hub on 2nd October 2024. This platform will offer tools, evidence, examples and stories to help you identify ways you can influence and improve the well-being and working lives of paediatricians. In next month’s blog, I’ll be sharing more details about how to use the platform but, in the meantime, keep an eye out for the link so you can explore the resource hub yourself. [Update - the .]