Your 🔑 to balance as a healthcare professional

The solution to finding balance, gaining freedom, and embracing well-being inside!

June 28, 2024

Picture this — you’re getting your kids ready for their very first recital, a big game, trick-or-treating, or graduation. Their eyes are bright with excitement, and though you’re filled with pride, you’re disappointed… you can’t make it. 

Why? You’re working. 

This is a dilemma too many in healthcare professions face — trading life experiences for a demanding schedule. 

In fact, experiences like these often lead to poor mental health, overwhelm and burnout, and worse — leave healthcare professionals jaded and without hope in the industry. 

If you’re like most, you joined this field of work to help people. But how can you provide quality care if your own health and well-being are suffering? 

Short answer: You can’t.

Physician burnout and depression can usually be tied back to four root causes:

  1. Feeling a lack of respect in the workplace

  2. Too many bureaucratic tasks

  3. Lack of autonomy

  4. Too many work hours

But the good news — an exciting solution is growing in popularity, allowing professionals just like you to take control of their careers, orchestrate their own calendars, make a fair living and help people to the best of their ability while enjoying personal thriving health and well-being. 

Locum tenens: The solution you’ve been waiting for

Professionals in healthcare often enter the field after years of intensive education and practice with a mountain of student debt and see only one option: committing to a full-time team at a local facility. 

But this isn’t the only option. 

Once seen as a temporary placeholder for parental leaves, professionals are now using locum tenens to build thriving, flexible careers.

Locums offer several benefits including (but not limited to): 

  • Flexibility in your schedule 

  • Greater travel opportunities

  • Fewer administrative responsibilities

  • Skill development and income stability

And for leaders like Dr. Gregory Charlop, the most appealing part of locums is the freedom that comes with the positions. Looking for a freedom you just can’t find in the healthcare space? Locums might be a good path for you. Tune in to our conversation with Dr. Charlop on Heroes of Healthcare to learn more. 

Hero Spotlight

Physician burnout is a significant issue today — but there are ways to combat it. Dr. Gregory Charlop is leading the charge. As founder of the Physician Wellness Project, Dr. Charlop offers one-on-one consultations to doctors seeking more fun and a better work-life balance. Want to connect? Find Dr. Charlop at www.GregoryCharlopMD.com or on Linkedin.

Wellness in your facility

Maybe locums aren’t the solution for you — ready to build a wellness focus in your facility? Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation partnered with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to create a system to eliminate burnout in your organization. 

This system is comprised of 6 action steps:

  1. Review your hospital’s operations

  2. Building a professional well-being team

  3. Breaking down barriers to seeking help

  4. Communicate your commitment

  5. Professional well-being in quality improvement

  6. Developing a long-term plan 

Ready to dive in? Check out the full video series for free.

Building the best environment for healthcare professionals' well-being may not be easy — but progress is being made every day. Tune in to Heroes of Healthcare every other week to hear insightful conversations to continuously drive the industry forward and help you find your best, most balanced lifestyle today.