Emergency! Stress Alarm!

Description:
Ever felt like you have no control over anything that’s happening around you? We’ve all experienced this especially when it comes to stressful situations within the workplace. As you continue on your professional journey, you’ll run into situations where you have very limited ability to influence. Fun fact, you have more options than pulling your hair out. Join this session to understand what makes these kinds of situations stressful, why it’s hard but necessary to manage stress, and techniques for practicing good self-care. Expect to assess and manage a stressful situation using the CHART Method adapted from the public safety industry.

Learning Objectives:
-Define what self-care is and why it is important to practice it
-Being able to recognize when you’re barely able to tread water
-Identify symptoms that arise from not practicing self-care
-Provide technique anyone can use as a starter guide for practicing good self-care

Outline:
Opening: Scenario run-through - 5 minutes
My moment of hitting the wall - story sharing:
Complaint – What was that moment where you knew you hit your breaking point?
History – What was happening prior to that moment? Do you have a past history of this happening?
Assessment – Taking a full view, what were all of the other impacts, consequences, secondary reactions from this event?
RX (Prescribe Tool) – What did you do to improve your condition based on your assessment?
OuTcome – What happened when you re-engaged with your team/organization after treatment?
We all have stress - so let’s explore how to manage it better: Introduction

What is Self-Care? - 8 minutes
What it is (such as, taking stock/internal retrospective)
What it isn’t (such as, Shrugging it off)
What are some common misconceptions (Such as, it’s not for me/not useful)

Why is it Important? - 8 minutes
Better Interactions (such as, Effective communication of emotions)
Better Performance (such as Recognizing the best decision)
Physical Benefit (such as Mental & Physical well-being)

Scenario run-through #2 - 30 minutes
- Explain & Follow the CHART (source: https://www.ems1.com/ems-products/epcr-electronic-patient-care-reporting/articles/how-to-use-a-chronological-approach-for-epcr-narratives-Kh0rCEINAiSkrVG9/)
- Logistics
Think about a recent stressful situation they’ve encountered that they had no control over
In breakout rooms, session participants will talk through their scenarios and lessons they’ve learned while managing the stress
Similar to the walkthrough have participants complete a CHART and share their scenario
Regroup have a few participants shared their scenario and their CHART

OPTIONAL: Good habits to practice? - 12 minutes
Classic suggestions
-Personal journal
Personal suggestions
-Words of affirmation
-OPQRST
Session suggestions

Wrap-Up - ~9 minutes
What are some potential applications and what question would you add to the chart?