The past two years have been traumatic for health and social care staff but what do we mean by trauma and why is it important?
The last two years have been the worst crisis I have lived through. The last two years have also been hell for many of the teams I work with in hospitals and care homes (whilst acknowledging that there are many in our community that have been through much worse). 2022 going to be (is going to have to be) the year of dealing with trauma, on a massive scale, with our workforce.
But what do I mean by trauma? I’m still learning but trauma is an unresolved emotional response to either a traumatic event (eg a medical diagnosis or intervention, bereavement, divorce, car crash) or an experience over a longer time (eg abuse, bullying, racism, poverty). Whilst individuals on our teams have gone through many things, this pandemic has been a different experience. Having to go through ongoing lockdowns, death and illness on a large scale, and to have to continue to work through it for years without “relent” means that we are dealing with teams that have a lot going on emotionally.
Now I’m not proposing that we should be “curing” trauma in the workplace. People who are struggling are going to need professional support. But we can create a workplace that acknowledges the difficult times people have gone through and attempts to not further colleague’s distress.
As we step into whatever 2023 holds for us, our work in improvement in health and social care will be more important than ever. We will need to find new and better ways to work as society shifts. I will share what I’m learning through my reading and my experiments at work and I hope this blog will become a conversation where we can find a way through together. Drop me a message or sign up for my mailing list and reply to my emails.
