How do we handle stressful situations and deal with difficulties in our lives? Most of the people react to such circumstances with a flood of strong emotions and a sense of uncertainty. Many people adapt well over time to life-changing situations and stressful conditions. This takes resilience, “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change “(Saletnik, 2018, p.175). When someone is resilient it does not mean he or she does not experience stress. It’s an ongoing process that requires time and effort and engages people in taking a number of steps. It involves thoughts and behaviors that can be learned and developed in anyone.
There are many theories of resilience that all share central themes incorporating an acceptance of reality, an ability to improvise, and a deep belief that life is meaningful. Importantly, resilience can be acquired and taught. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of workplace problems, trauma, tragedy, stress. When stress or trauma strikes, we still experience anger and pain, but we’re able to keep functioning, both physically and psychologically. Difficult emotions such as fear or anger are not enemy. It’s our reactivity toward these difficult emotions that are most harmful.
So, building the resilience is very important for healthcare workers, who often working in high- stress environment. “The American Psychological Association identified aspects which can help healthcare workers to increase and maintain their resilience: a) maintaining good positive relationship; b) accepting that there are circumstances that are out of one’s control; c) sustaining optimism and a hopeful outlook for the future; d) keeping a long-term perspective.”(Saletnik, 2018, p. 175). Practicing mindfulness is a technique for building resilience. “Mindfulness is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as the practice of being aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment, thought to create a feeling of calm.’’(Saletnik, 2018, p. 176). Anyone can do it. Many studies show that the primary factor in resilience is having caring and supportive relationship within and outside the family.
Relationship that create love and trust, provide role models and offer encouragement and reassurance help bolster a person’s resilience. Commit to starting one of these simple practices every day to build a greater sense of emotional balance. Mindfulness cultivates universal human qualities and does not require anyone to change their beliefs. Everyone can benefits and it’s easy to learn. Mindful professionals attend in a nonjudgmental way to their own physical and mental processes during ordinary, everyday tasks. This critical self-reflection enables them to listen attentively to patients’ distress, recognize their own errors, refine their technical skills, make evidence-based decisions, and clarify their values.
Mindfulness help us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our condition respond. Mindfulness is important for surgical technologists, because it helps them deal with the highest stress environment they working. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown exceptional promise in improving burnout and distress symptoms, protecting cognition, and enhancing meaningfulness and satisfaction in work among technologists and other high-stress/high-performance groups. It’s important for surgical technologists to stay calm and keep positive attitude during surgical procedure as well as separate ourselves from negative emotions or judgment.
I have started practicing mindfulness at my clinical site by clearing my mind before surgery and planning ahead to get instruments and supplies ready for the surgery. I try to think ahead of the surgery to figure out what instruments surgeon will use and when he/she will require them. I also practice mindfulness by staying aware of where my instruments are and making sure they are not contaminated. If I keep practicing mindfulness, in the future it will improve the quality of my work, will help to have better relationship with my coworkers and will lowered my overall stress
