Inaugural EM Wellness Week Focuses on the Well-being of the Care-Giver
Created and spearheaded by the American College of Emergency Physicians, the 2016 Emergency Medicine Wellness Week™ is an opportunity all emergency physicians and their colleagues to take the time to self-renew while staying dedicated to the highest quality patient care.
The inaugural event is slated for January 24-30, 2016. To participate, visit the website, www.acep.org/EMWellnessWeek, and sign up for daily wellness tips, print a personal pledge card, find resources and videos about better wellness, and share your stories of personal improvement.
“As emergency physicians, we care a lot about our patients. That’s why we chose this specialty. But all too often we are so busy caring for others, we forget to care about ourselves,” said ACEP President Jay A. Kaplan, MD, FACEP. “We want this week to be about action rather than just ideas. Everyone makes resolutions around the New Year; we hope that this week will help us and our colleagues make commitments to become more healthy, less burned out, and more resilient.”
First, fill out an anonymous pledge card from the website, selecting areas that you will focus on for the week. Print it out and stick it on your refrigerator, your mirror, anywhere you’ll see it every day. There will be suggested improvements in three major areas, such as:
Physical
- Eat healthy
- Drink water, not soda
- Exercise
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep per night in blocks of at least 4 hours
Connections
- Spend time with family, friends
- Spend time connecting to your spiritual self
- Do one community project
Career Enhancement
- Learn to recognize burnout and decrease it
- Develop a new networking contact
- Plan your next career move
Next, sign up to receive daily messages about wellness for that week to help you keep on track, and introduce resources that will help improve your wellness that week and beyond. At the end of the week, ACEP will ask you how you did and what worked for you.
“More importantly, at the end of the week, we want you to feel better – about yourself, about your family and friends, about your patients and your work,” Dr. Kaplan said. “We’d like you to remember, once again, why you chose medicine, and emergency medicine, for your life’s work. And to be proud and happy with that decision.”
Visit www.acep.org/EMWellnessWeek to take your pledge now.