If you feel that you have completely lost touch with patient care, it may be helpful to concentrate your clinical day on more patient-oriented locations such as the preoperative assessment clinic, pain management clinic or outpatient surgical center. Perhaps a change to a more administrative role would enhance your perception of controlling your time. Assuming a more proactive role in case or surgeon selection might decrease stress associated with never knowing what is coming next. Most importantly, it may be prudent to consider negotiating work on a part-time basis with your group or department. The loss of income may not be that untenable if you adequately and honestly address the other areas of your life.
Unresolved relationships can be an enormous drain.
This may include such issues as a lack of quality friendships in your life, toxic people who drain your energy, an unsatisfactory romantic relationship, lack of a romantic attachment, unresolved conflicts with family members, difficulty managing anger or even just unreturned telephone calls, e-mails or correspondence. A dysfunctional physical environment can be just as exhausting and stressful as many of the other areas of disquiet in your life. This could include a cluttered home or office that does not nurture you, a car that is dirty or in disrepair, a wardrobe in sad need of updating or the simple need to be in a different geographic location. Taking charge of your financial health is often one of the biggest challenges that we face. Not infrequently, the longer we delay addressing these issues, the more we are drained because we do not know if we have a plan or safety net for the future.