How do doctors relieve stress and what lessons can we learn from them?
Irish Team Relentless at the finish line of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge L-R Sean Underwood, Patrick O'Connor, Thomas Browne & Eoin O'Farrell CREDIT BEN DUFFY.
Dr Sean Underwood, a specialist registrar in emergency medicine who works in the emergency department (ED) at CUH is well suited to his pressurised job. It has been a year and a half of national emergency with the pandemic (and then the cyber attack on the HSE). But Dr Underwood says he has always been drawn "to bringing calm to the chaos."
In his downtime, he goes rowing and was part of a crew that crossed the Atlantic in record time finishing in January 2018 while raising money for Pieta House. Dr Underwood thrives on challenges. He always wanted to work in an emergency department.
"It's the one area of the hospital that ever goes to sleep. You can walk in there at 2pm or 3am and it's always a hive of activity. There's great teamwork to be had there from the nurses, doctors, porters and administration staff. I just love it there."
But in a job that was already stressful, Dr Underwood admits that what he found particularly challenging over the last eighteen months were the social restrictions. Not being able to see family and friends is something that rankled with him.
"It's not that the support network is crumbling away but it's a lot harder to access. I didn't want to put anyone in danger because I work in a dangerous environment where you could pick up Covid. That aspect of it was tough."
Dr Underwood has been finding the going tough on the physical, cognitive and emotional front. To keep cool, he says he feeds himself with mantras. "I tell myself that I don't always have the power to control what happens but I suppose if we're strong enough, we can decide for ourselves how we're going to react. It changes us and we can grow from it."
What's important after finishing each shift is to take five minutes to reflect on the day or night's work, he says. "I think of things I could improve and might have done differently. It's also important to be self-compassionate about the things I did well. I sit down and write my reflections if only to get things straight in my head. One of the jobs of an emergency doctor is to stay calm and steer a path through (a crisis.)"
Dr Underwood runs the five kilometres into work and home every day. "I can always tell by my timing on the run home how hard the shift was. If I run faster, it's usually to burn off energy. I also listen to music and I meditate a few times a week as well going rowing."
The job at ED has made Dr Underwood acutely aware "of the fragility of our lives. A blessing of the job and the heaviness of it is that you're faced every day with the realisation that we're only here for a short time. It's up to you how you process that. For me, it shines a light on what the superficial really is. It's a life lesson that is one of the privileges as well as one of the pressures of working in the emergency department."
De Saema Saeed has been working as a registrar at CUH's ED for two years. While working through the pandemic, what has been the most challenging aspect of it was getting used to wearing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).
"You have to wear the goggles, the mask, the gown and the gloves. For every patient, regardless of their infection status, you have to change your PPE each time. But you eventually get used to it. It's important to minimise risk."
To cope with the stress of her job, Dr Saeed walks the forty minutes home from work. She also goes running. And she relies on her friends.
"We have a support group at work too if we need it. There is always someone to talk to in the department. The occupational health department has a service to help us out if we need it. So we have been well supported."
Dr Saeed says it's "too soon" to tell whether there is an end in sight regarding Covid. "There are some things that will stay with us like the PPE and good hand hygiene. That was always there but it has an added extra layer now. We're seeing what the vaccine rollout is doing and hopefully, there is (an end in sight). I'm optimistic."
While the pandemic came out of the blue, Dr Saeed says the ED provides "orientation" for events like a virulent virus. "When Covid started happening, we were well briefed about it and got training sessions. We were prepared in case things got worse."
While Dr Saeed knows she is in risky job, "you learn to adapt to it. You have to. It's what you're trained to do. It's scary. You just have to be extra careful and mindful and adapt. It's a rewarding experience to be able to do that and see patients have a good outcome so that they can leave hospital and go home."
However, the level of tragedy was something that "a lot of us in the department had never experienced before. It has been a tough difficult time. But we mobilised really well and managed to get everything ready before things changed."
Lockdown has been difficult for everyone. "From what I see in Cork, I think we've been good in abiding by the health rules," says Dr Saeed.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
