🎙️ Behind the Uniform | Episode 2 I Stress Management & Self-Care for Healthcare Professionals

🎙️ Behind the Uniform | Episode 2 Stress Management & Self-Care for Healthcare Professionals: Why It’s Not a Luxury Healthcare is demanding: long shifts, difficult conversations, critical decisions and emotional labour. In this episode, Josie and Gemma explore why self-care isn’t selfish — and why staff wellbeing matters for safe, compassionate care. We discuss: 💙 How stress affects decision-making 🧠 The stress response and nervous system 🩺 Staff wellbeing and patient safety 🧀 James Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model 🚨 Critical incident stress 🎭 Understanding and naming emotions 🎬 What Inside Out can teach us about emotions 🚧 Setting boundaries at work 🌱 Practical self-care strategies Self-care matters, but it cannot compensate for unsafe staffing, excessive workloads, poor leadership or harmful workplace cultures. ❤️ Because behind every uniform is a human being. 📚 Resources James Reason: Human Error, Models and Management https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... The NHS Patient Safety Strategy https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-sa... HSE Management Standards for work-related stress https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standar... HSE Stress Talking Toolkits https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/talking... NHS Employers: Supporting NHS People Experiencing Stress https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles... Mind: Managing Stress and Building Resilience https://www.mind.org.uk/information-s... Palouse Mindfulness: Free eight-week programme https://palousemindfulness.com/ Self-Compassion Exercises – Dr Kristin Neff https://self-compassion.org/category/... The Feelings Wheel https://feelingswheel.com/ Pixar’s Inside Out https://www.pixar.com/inside-out 💙 Confidential support Samaritans: Call 116 123 https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can... Shout: Text SHOUT to 85258 https://giveusashout.org/ Frontline19: Support for frontline workers https://frontline19.com/get-support/ BMA counselling: Call 0330 123 1245 https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-sup... For urgent mental health support in England, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Call 999 where there is an immediate risk to life. Disclaimer This podcast is for education and professional reflection. It does not replace clinical judgement, organisational policy or personalised healthcare advice. Any scenarios discussed have been anonymised or adapted. #behindtheuniform #healthcareworkers #stressmanagement #selfcare #patientsafety #wellbeing