Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Health Care Heroes Need a Break, Too

Friday, April 10, 2020, By Hailey Womer
Share

 April 10, 2020 – The co-author of research on the health benefits of vacation says the same holds true for health care workers in our current climate, who can benefit from even small breaks to combat the pandemic’s emotional toll.

Bryce Hruska, assistant professor of public health at Syracuse University’s Falk College, studies the mental benefits of taking a break. While most of us can identify with the feeling of getting away from stressful situations, Hruska has studied the actual beneficial impact this has on our health.  His initial research was published last year, and drew direct correlations between a vacation from work and positive benefits to a person’s heart health.  Hruska says research also proves this benefit is realized even during small breaks, which he says are vital right now especially for health care workers who will likely see an increasingly difficult workload.

“Just as hospitals must ensure that adequate material resources are in place to manage patient influx, they must also ensure that systems are in place to provide healthcare workers with opportunities to manage and restore their personal psychological and emotional resources. Under normal conditions, healthcare workers are disproportionately impacted by occupational stress and emotional burnout owing to the demands and responsibilities associated with administering patient care. This may become all the more pronounced under acutely taxing conditions such as the current pandemic. One consistent finding from the research literature is that healthcare workers can effectively counter the emotional toll of the job if provided with time for recovery from the day’s tasks. This includes ensuring time for adequate sleep as well as building in sufficient downtime during which they can process the days events and “switch off” from the days demands. These practices not only protect against decrements in performance, attention, and memory, but they also promote opportunities to derive meaning from the day’s experiences which can promote resilience in the face of stressful circumstances. Attesting to this importance, recent reports from China document the need that healthcare workers express for recovery time from the job. Importantly, measures addressing this need often consisted of relatively brief, but dedicated periods of time and physical space in the hospitals allowing for rest and reflection. As these reports demonstrate, while the current pandemic places an urgency on the delivery of care to those in need of it, the best way to ensure consistent and effective care over the ensuing weeks and possibly months is to tend to the workers responsible for delivering it.  As hospitals across the U.S. prepare for anticipated strain due to surging COVID-19 cases, it is important that they do not neglect their most important asset: the healthcare workers responsible for delivering care.”

 For more information/schedule an interview: kkobland@syr.edu

  • Author

Hailey Womer

  • Recent
  • Syracuse University Ranked in the Top 25 for Best Online Graduate Information Technology Programs by U.S. News & World Report
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • WAER 88.3 FM Welcomes New Sports Director
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By Mary Kate Intaglietta
  • The State of the Immigration Courts
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • Athlete, Activist Maya Moore Joins the Martin Luther King Jr. Virtual Event Series Jan. 27
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By News Staff
  • Health Promotion Advocate and Alumnus Sidney Lerner ’53 Remembered
    Tuesday, January 26, 2021, By News Staff

More In Uncategorized

“Can JC Penny Perform a Magic Act As It Emerges From Bankruptcy?”

Ray Wimer, professor of retail practice in the Whitman School, was interviewed for the International Business Times piece “Can JC Penny Perform a Magic Act As It Emerges From Bankruptcy?” Wimer, an expert on the retail industry, says that the…

“How the FBI is following a digital trail of evidence to track down capitol rioters.”

Mark Pollitt, adjunct professor in the School of Information Studies, was interviewed for the TODAY story “How the FBI is following a digital trail of evidence to track down capitol rioters.” Pollitt spent a thirty year career working for the…

“Did President rump’s Ban from Twitter Violate Free Speech? The experts say not exactly.”

Shubha Ghosh, the Crandall Melvin Professor of Law in the College of Law, was quoted in the Katie Couric Media piece “Did President rump’s Ban from Twitter Violate Free Speech? The experts say not exactly.” Ghosh, an expert in antitrust…

“People with disabilities desperately need the vaccine. But states disagree on when they’ll get it.”

Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was quoted in The Washington Post story “People with disabilities desperately need the vaccine. But states disagree on when they’ll get it.” Landes, an expert on the sociology of disability,…

Luvell Anderson writes “Whiteness Is the Greatest Racial Fraud”

Luvell Anderson, associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, wrote commentary in the Boston Review titled “Whiteness Is the Greatest Racial Fraud.” Anderson, who studies the philosophy of race, uses the piece to discuss the concept…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.