Thriving as a Health Professional -(when working with cancer patients)

Chapter 3: Thriving as a Health Professional

Overview:

• Common challenges for health professionals are identified and suggestions are provided and explained
• Health professionals common responses are listed and described
• Suggestions for strategies for managing challenges are provided
• Examples and tables are provided to clarify points made

Description:

This chapter identifies common challenges health professionals are faced with and the varied responses they could have. Health professionals are guided with suggestions, examples and tables on how best to deal with differing reactions and strategies for managing challenges are also provided.

Topics:

• Common challenges for health professionals
  • The health care system
  • Disease challenges
  • Patient challenges
• Common responses in the health professional
  • Normal adjustment
  • Stress and burnout
• Strategies for managing challenges
  • Staff recruitment
  • Organisational skills and management
  • Maintaining good collegial relationships
  • Ensuring appropriate referrals
  • Professional development and networking
  • Resource sharing
  • Supervision and peer consultation and formal debriefing
  • Self-care
• Putting it all together
• Resources for health professionals and references
• Resource sheet 3.1 Conducting successful staff support sessions
• Resource sheet 3.2 Unhelpful beliefs in health professionals

Speaker / Author:

Dr Jemma Gilchrist
Jemma is a senior clinical psychologist with clinical experience in psycho-oncology. Since 1999 she has worked in two separate tertiary oncology services providing psychosocial care to adults with a wide range of cancer diagnoses as well as their families and carers. Jemma has experience in educating other health professionals on the role of psychosocial support and interventions in the oncology setting. In addition she is an honorary associate of the University of Sydney and provides clinical supervision to clinical psychology interns at master’s level. She completed her doctorate in 1995 in the area of children’s eyewitness memory, and has published in the areas of interviewing children about stressful events, the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and postnatal depression. She has a longstanding interest in the impact and treatment of anxiety in the medically unwell.

Professional Reviews: