Health workshops to promote wellness for doctors, nurses and practitioners

MAY 27 2022 - 5:00PM

APPLE A DAY: Psychologist Sharee Johnson will hold two wellness workshops next month.

Doctors, nurses and allied health professionals across the North and North West of the state will have the chance to address professional wellness and burnout at a series of workshops being held next month.

Healthy Tasmania and the Dr Simon Monks Memorial Foundation along with registered psychologist Sharee Johnson will hold two workshops in Devonport on June 4 and 5 to help health professionals develop the tools to manage and maintain their own healthy lifestyles.

Author of The Thriving Doctor: How to be more balanced and fulfilled working in medicine, Ms Johnson has developed a program designed for people working in healthcare to develop the skills they need to "be well" and "reduce the risk of burnout"

"Health care workers are constantly encouraged to communicate with empathy and compassion,'' she said.

"The challenge is when we are depleted ourselves, everything becomes harder. We have asked an enormous amount of our healthcare professionals even before COVID.

"As a community of practitioners, we need to recalibrate so that we can create a sustainable healthcare system where everyone can be well, including the providers of care."

GP and trustee of the Dr Simon Monks Memorial Foundation Dr Emil Djakic said he was excited to bring Ms Johnson to Tasmania.

"After a couple of really tricky years for all our health professionals I think these topics will be really useful and give attendees some new skills to include in their practices and potentially build and improve on patient relationships," he said.

Physiotherapist Libby Campbell is one of the people attending the workshops and said after COVID disrupted the way health professionals engage with patients and each other the event provided an opportunity to reconnect and develop new skills.

"I'm hoping this course will give me a better understanding and a better way of interacting with patients and also other clinicians that you're dealing with," she said.

This article was originally published in The Examiner Newspaper and can be accessed here

The original poster promoting the events can be accessed here