UW Medicine Well-Being and Support

We have heard the word ‘unprecedented’ repeatedly in the recent months and many of us have felt this on a very personal level. This has also been an unprecedented time for us as a community; working to come together as we live through a new reality created by a global pandemic of this intensity and scale. We want to pause and give voice to the myriad experiences of the COVID-19 crisis across our UW Medicine community. This Friday, we will be offering a special Town Hall event featuring UW Medicine’s first institution-wide Schwartz Center Rounds featuring ten members of our healthcare team sharing their stories on the theme of “Grieving the Loss of Normalcy.” The variety of stories and perspectives are intended to highlight the emotional impact of the pandemic on each of us.

Schwartz Center Rounds offer healthcare providers a time to openly and honestly discuss the social and emotional issues they face in caring for patients and families. These “rounds” focus on the human dimension of medicine in which health care workers from all disciplines come together and talk about the experience of providing care while enabling connection to others, to yourself, and to your sense of purpose.

Panelists:

• Mary Carney, BSN, Orthopedics/Ophthalmology (Montlake)
• Niuvis Ferro-Gonzalez, Caseworker-Cultural Mediator Interpreter Services (Harborview)
• Carrie Ferrulli, BSN, RN, CCRN, COVID Nurse Manager, Critical Care (Harborview)
• Jonathan Hourmozdi, MD, Department of Medicine Residency
• Nat Kress, MD, Department of Medicine (Northwest)
• Sarah Lawson, MSW, LICSW, ED Social Worker (Harborview)
• Emily Ng, BSRT, Respiratory Care (Montlake)
• Darrell Owens, DNP, Palliative Care (Northwest)
• Adrienne Schippers, RN, BSN, Infection Prevention (Montlake)
• Sherri L. ThunderHawk, CNA, Geropsychiatry (Northwest)

UW Medicine Schwartz Center Rounds on Friday, May 1, at 3 p.m. (Zoom link) facilitated by Ken Steinberg, MD & Jill Rasmussen-Baker, MDiv, BCC, ACPE Certified Educator. Please join us for this special event!

As we continue to address the emotional challenges of our own experiences of COVID-19, we encourage you to seek out and refer others to Peer Support and our Department of Psychiatry’s Supportive Conversations. We also want to highlight a new resource created by community-based mental health workers: a list of providers offering support to healthcare workers (including pro bono, reduced fee, and insurance-reimbursed services). Access the list of providers through the support resources on the mental health section of our well-being and support website.

• Today: Join Dr. Tony Back (Oncology) and Larisa Benson for Recovery Room: Stop for an Infusion of Renewal Wednesday, April 29, from 12:30 – 1 p.m. Try out and learn three different micro practices that improve well-being, curb anxiety and regulate emotions so that you can sustain your ability to do your best work.

• Our UW Medicine Care & Share website has expanded!  We know as we expand clinical activity, more folks will need access to child care and other resources from our community. Care & Share now offers the opportunity to post what you need from the community and people can respond directly to you with offers to help!

Need a boost?  Check out the UW Medicine Kudoboard which is collecting images and messages of support from near and far.  We’ll leave you with this wise gem from Josie U.:

“I think of you every day and all of the hard work and emotional strain you are going through. I admire your strength. I hope on days [when] you don’t feel strong enough to get up and do it again, all of the love, admiration, strength and support we the people are sending you will help you get through. You are not forgotten, and your efforts are appreciated more than words can convey. I also hope you find some ways each day to provide self-care for you — be it listening to a song that makes you want to shake your booty, hot bath, favorite TV show, glass of wine, cup of coffee, silence. You deserve and need that! Look at me being all bossy. Anyway — just wanted to say thank you so much!! Virtual hugs all around :)”