Impact Your Staff with a Mindfulness Program

By Gracie E. Ryker

Finding the positive and helping employees control burnout has been a persistent issue in health care.

However, due to COVID-19, we are finding it’s becoming an even more serious concern. Enacting a mindfulness practice into your employees’ day may be the key to help combat daily stress.

GET STARTED TODAY

An easy way to start a mindfulness practice is to send out a weekly “Mindful Monday” tip, trick, or even a short article. By starting your employees’ week off with the concepts of self-awareness, self-care, and emotional wellbeing, you are giving each employee permission to identify their feelings and invest in their wellbeing.

SET FOR SUCCESS

Key points to ensuring the success of a mindfulness program at your practice include:

• Make sure you do this consistently every week; don’t let it fall to the wayside
• Ask employees to contribute
• Make the articles, tips, and tricks relevant to the employees
• Introduce your WHY; everyone knows about mindfulness, but why are you choosing to instill it as an employer?

Here’s an example of our first installment of Mindfulness Monday and how I introduced our WHY and HOW to our staff:

“The IRG Mindfulness committee is excited to introduce Mindfulness Mondays! Every Monday you will receive a new affirmation or quote and a small mindful tip/trick to try out during the week. The goal of this is to help everyone at IRG be their best self, deconstruct feelings, decrease stress, and uplift your health and wellbeing.”

“Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.”

– Gautama Buddha

“This week’s focus is finding the goodness in every moment. Take a moment to stop worrying about how different things are and embrace the moments you have had, and will have, going forward. Not every moment will be positive or beautiful, but every moment holds meaning, and plays a significant part in your life. Learn from the untraditional and new. Be kind to yourself and give yourself the space to adjust and self-reflect.”

Think about starting your own program and feel free to reach out to any staff members who may also want to contribute.

Gracie Ryker is the director of operations for Integrated Rehabilitation Group. She has been with IRG for 13 years and finds passion in cultivating employees to be their best selves. She can be reached at Gracie.Ryker@irgpt.com.