How to Help Nurse Burnout: Taking a day off

By LeAnn Thieman. This was originally published on LeAnn's blog.

Many healthcare workers feel guilty for taking time off.

In fact, 60 percent of employed Americans said they feel uncomfortable taking a day off work for preventive care and 86 percent would forego checkups and put work first. Some employers offer “Unsick Days” to give staff paid time off and explicit permission to take care of themselves.

Half of the employees surveyed said they believe that taking time off to go to an appointment could harm their chances of getting a promotion, and 69 percent of millennials have this fear.

Counter intuitively, 38 percent of American workers said they think their colleagues would be inconvenienced, annoyed, or stressed if they missed work for a preventive care appointment, although 62 percent said they would be supportive or happy if one of their co-workers did so.

One estimates the cost of “presenteeism,” or the practice of sick employees showing up to work and being less productive, at $160 billion per year, more than double the estimated cost of “absenteeism,” or staying home to recuperate. Taking one day off for a preventive care appointment could reduce a person’s chances of future illnesses, and it may reduce the feeling of “burning out” (especially in the nursing field).

When was your last physical exam? Turn off your computer and pick up the phone. Make an appointment today. You can care for yourself AND care for others.

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