Resilience Hub

Resilience is a key component in the primary prevention of stress at work

A key skill for those working in a career in critical care. We all have a responsibility to be as resilient as possible against the uncertainties of everyday working lives. 

Resilience is the capacity to cope with and become stronger as a result of experiencing and dealing with difficult events. Strengthening resilience combines building inner strength with applying personal strength to challenging situations.

Resilience is primarily about attitude towards events. Our attitude is hugely influenced by our understanding of what an event means, and how we calculate what the outcome might be for us. The understanding and calculation is largely based on our confidence in knowing how to deal with the situation. The tips will help build confidence.

After presenting at the 2018 FICM annual meeting, Dr Derek Mowbray kindly agreed to share some of his invaluable resilience resources with FICM for the benefit of the ICM workforce.

12 Tips to prevent stress and strengthen your resilience

  1. Work out what you really, really, really want to achieve in your life and work; write it down and bring it out from time to time to refresh your determination to achieve your goals.
  2. Always keep an open mind about everything; you never know where this takes you, and it adds to your flexibility and adaptability in coping with stress.
  3. Be clear about the key values that drive your choices and decisions in your everyday life.
  4. Take time to understand what is happening to you every day; reflect on the good and positive events and think about how they have made you feel.
  5. Take an interest in other people; find out what makes them tick; what interests them, and take an interest.
  6. Make sure you strengthen your relationship with those who are important to you.
  7. Write down what you intend to do during the day. If you experience a problem during the day, try to resolve it there and then.
  8. Keep a diary or picture album of the positive events that give you a rosy glow; when you feel low, read or look at your diary or album; it will make you feel so much better.
  9. Always imagine everything positively - use your imagination to produce positive actions and behaviours.
  10. Take the long view – envisage the future. A long term purpose enables you to ‘ride over’ adverse events as you are focused on achieving the long view.
  11. Deliberately build your human capital so that you feel fulfilled in all aspects of your life. Human capital is who you are - the combination of skills, knowledge and experience.
  12. Behave assertively when appropriate but be very considerate of others when you want to convey a strong message about how you feel and what you would wish to see happen.

Resilience is the capacity to cope with and become stronger as a result of experiencing and dealing with difficult events.

Dr Derek Mowbray
BA, MSc, MSc(Econ), PhD, DipPsych, CPsychol, CSci, FBPsS, FIHM, FISMA

Whilst the Faculty promote personal development to aid your resilience skills and ability to manage the challenges working in a high-pressure specialty; we recognise these challenges are often related to resourcing and workforce issues outside of personal control.

The Faculty is focused on broader workforce development to address this. Regional workforce meetings, the annual census and the data bank can all be used to identify and address local support and resourcing issues. You can always contact us at contact@ficm.ac.uk for further advice and support.
 

Find out more

If you'd like to learn more about the courses that Derek and the Management Advisory Service offer including assessment questionnaires and their articles library, please visit the Management Advisory Service website or contact info@mas.org.uk to find out more.

Other resources

Resilience Questionnaire
  • Resilience
  • Management Advisory Service
MAS Resilience programmes guide
  • Resilience
  • Management Advisory Service

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Browse our Wellbeing resources.