3 Ways To Optimize Your Activity While Caring for Hospital Patients
If you work in hospital health care, you probably know caring for others means that your own health can get pushed aside from time to time. However, it’s just as vital to care for yourself. When you are healthy, you feel better, have more energy and think clearly. Staying well means that you can give your patients the best care.
Along with adequate sleep and a balanced diet, activity is an integral part of your health. You may spend some or most of your day on your feet. However, is your activity level benefiting you? Here are three tips for staying active in a healthy way while caring for hospital patients.
1. Take Frequent Breaks From Desk Work
Patient care usually includes a fair amount of reporting. You may find that you spend long periods hunched over your desk reading information or entering data into a computer. At home, you may sit down with your phone or tablet and scroll online for dinner recipes or Le-Vel Thrive reviews.
It’s critical to take frequent breaks from desk and computer work. Using the same muscles to sit in a chair and look at your screen for hours can hurt your back, neck and legs. Staring at a screen can also cause you to blink less often and dry your eyes.
Take micro-breaks from your computer work by standing up, stretching and looking away from the screen. Focus on something more than 20 feet away to relax the eye muscles. Make a phone call, refill your water bottle or walk to ask someone a question. A micro-break can last less than two minutes, but it can give your muscles a chance to reposition.
Every 30 to 60 minutes, take a rest break. Walk a lap around your unit, do a few yoga exercises or have a conversation while standing up. Regular rest breaks can help you feel less tired and focus more easily on your desk work.
Consider replacing your chair with an exercise ball if you’d like to take your desk breaks to the next level. It’s a great way to sneak in a workout for your core and improve your spine alignment. You can also consider a standing desk, which holds your computer at standing height.
2. Raise Your Heart Rate
Even when you’re on your feet taking care of patients, you may not be elevating your heart rate very much. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise. To find your target heart rate based on age, consult a heart-rate chart.
Are you trying to find enough time in your day to exercise? You can work in aerobic activity in 10-minute bursts and still feel the effects. Try walking on your lunch break with a co-worker. If you have a meeting, turn it into a walking meeting. Use the stairs between hospital floors instead of the elevator. Park your car far away, or walk to work if you live close enough. These small, seemingly insignificant changes can add up to activity and heart health.
3. Rest When You Need It
As a health care professional, you have many demands, both physical and mental. While staying active is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle, resting is just as important. Take breaks when you can. Give yourself time to focus on something other than work. If you’ve spent the day on your feet, sit down for a while. Likewise, if you’ve spent the day at your desk, stretch your legs.
Vacations are essential. This advice may seem strange, especially to devoted health care workers who want to help as many people as possible. However, a change of scenery and time away from the hospital can prevent burnout. Take time off from work when you can.
While it may seem difficult or sometimes impossible, you should provide yourself with the same level of care that you give to your patients. Even small changes in your activity level can make a difference in your overall health and keep you performing at your best.
