Occupational stress has always been a fact of life for healthcare professionals. But now, due to COVID-19, it has been recognized as a full-blown mental health crisis.

Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are the true heroes of the pandemic, risking their own health to maintain ours. They face tremendous physical and emotional exhaustion every day. And sadly, their heroism has taken its toll on their mental well-being.

According to US News, 60% to 75% of healthcare workers in the United States now report symptoms of exhaustion, depression, sleep disorders, and PTSD. And sadly, suicidal ideation is also on the rise.

Given these staggering statistics, it comes as no surprise that the healthcare field is experiencing an epidemic of burnout. The demands on today’s healthcare professionals are extremely high, and their mental health and resilience are of utmost importance.

Many healthcare institutions believe it is time to act. And they are availing themselves of self-care and stress reduction programs like Healing Breaths as part of the solution.

Healing Breaths: Bringing stress reduction and resilience to healthcare professionals and leaders

In honor of World Health Day, we’d like to share a little about what Healing Breaths is doing to take care of healthcare professionals and leaders during this time of crisis.

Healing Breaths partners with healthcare institutions to nourish and energize healthcare professionals with evidence-based self-care programs that strengthen resilience, restore a sense of community, and help reconnect them to the joy of practicing medicine.  

With programs for all healthcare professionals and administrators, including but not limited to doctors, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, dieticians, dentists, psychologists, physical therapists, and allied healthcare professionals; Healing Breaths helps reduce stress and burnout, and improves their overall quality of life.

Healing Breaths works with:

• Healthcare Professionals - To strengthen self-compassion and build resilience through immersive experiences, while earning up to 10 CE credits

• Healthcare Institutions - To address burnout issues, promote a culture of well-being, and improve team cohesiveness, while providing data-driven, pre-post intervention measurement for efficacy

• Healthcare Partners - Such as associations and insurance companies to help promote mental health and well-being of clinicians

Click here to speak with a wellness account executive to learn how Healing Breaths is helping hospitals address burnout issues and create a culture of well-being. 

The research

Healing Breaths teaches breath-based stress reduction technique called the SKY Program. Practiced by millions worldwide, and extensively studied over the last decade, this technique provides a simple method for healthcare workers to breathe away stress.

In total, more than 100 independent studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals confirming a comprehensive range of benefits, including reduced levels of anxiety and depression, better sleep, and enhanced brain, hormone, immune, and cardiovascular function, and improved resilience to COVID-19 stress.

Selected benefits

The impact

Since 2016, Healing Breaths has served over 3,000 healthcare professionals and over 20 healthcare institutions, bringing stress reduction, resilience, and improved quality of life to those on the front lines of the pandemic. 

Healing Breaths has also raised more than $100,000 to provide PPE supplies to healthcare institutions across the US.

Here’s what past participants are saying about the program

Healing Breaths Customer Experience from Healing Breaths on Vimeo.

 

“A lot of us deal with very sick patients, with very needy families and we just give, give, give and it's hard to give to ourselves. This course really makes you think about self-care in a different way. It feels so good to know that I have something that I can take with me and do day after day, and know that it works.” - Theiline T. Gborkorquellie, MD

“What I benefited most from the SKY program is the affirmation that it’s OK to care about myself. I have always struggled putting my needs before others. Therefore, I will make the commitment to take 15 minutes out of the 1440 minutes a day for me, which will leave me 1425 minutes to care for others.” - Kimberly Kelley, Nurse Director

“(After the course) I was feeling better than my baseline, I was able to cut my blood pressure meds by a third.”  - Dr. Robert McGregor Chief Medical Officer, Akron Children's Hospital

To hear more about Doctor McGregor’s experience watch this video.

NBC Interview with Dr. McGregor, CMO from Healing Breaths on Vimeo.

The final word

Healthcare professionals spend the better part of their lives taking care of others. But all too often, they are the least likely to ask for help when they themselves are in need. 

It is incumbent on our society to take a proactive approach to bolstering the mental health and happiness of our healthcare professionals, by offering stress reduction and resilience programs like Healing Breaths.

Healthcare workers are the true heroes of this pandemic, and nobody deserves peace of mind more.

If you would like to learn more about Healing Breaths’ evidence-based programs, reach out to us at 628.280.6527, or click here to schedule a time to speak with a wellness account executive.