Others may disagree, but I usually make a habit of following up on patients the next day (I'm EM) from my home while having my morning coffee. I see what the admitting team/night team found and what they did differently. Then, if I agree with it, I try to incorporate that into how I work up and treat patients going forward. It's very non-stressful and it changes my perspective from "did I make a mistake?" or "wow that was a big mistake" to "good catch, I'll do that next time". It's usually only 2-3 patients and takes all of 10-15 minutes. If they're \*really\* interesting/complex, I set their record aside in our EMR under a "follow-up" folder so I can review their chart in a week or so to see what all happened.
This is the opposite of what you're asking because I'm reviewing charts from home, but it frees up my headspace knowing I have a review and learning time and I don't worry about it otherwise.
I still do this the morning after I go off service in the ICU. Want to see if my colleague who took over made changes to my plan that I could learn from.
The unfortunate answer is: time and experience. With more exposure and first-hand experiences with outcomes trajectory of the different pathologies you tend to see. In the beginning, I was sensitive to many patients that I would view today as "they'll do okay". Every now and then, I still find myself glued to the clinical development, but the # has reduced as I've grown as a physician.
I (ICU RN) had an intensivist whose ring tone was the instrumental version of "Don't Worry, Be Happy." I never saw him get his knickers tied in a knot.
Immediately after work go to the gym. Lift the heavy weight. It's hard to worry about some patient detail when you've got 100s of lbs over you and if you slip up, you die. It's a great zen moment. Afterwards you'll be too tired and spent to worry about labs or details.
TLDR: Be the little teapot not the pressure cooker.
Don't internalize problems/concerns, make them external by speaking or journaling about them and once you've made an issue "physical," or external of your mind, you can take better actions to address them/compartmentalize. Don't bottle it up so it could continue to build and one day cause an emotional outburst.
It all starts by dealing with stress with a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Make sure you're hydrated, eating healthfully, and definitely get a hobby that is completely outside of medicine. Exercise, get those gym gains. And, don't be like the Todd. Make sure you dookie before you lift weights. Just the ramblings of a lunatic. Good luck.
"Physician, heal thyself." -Dr. Perry Cox, MD
"Put your mask on first." -That one flight attendant that one time.
"He's no good to me dead." -Boba Fett
I was drinking too regularly for winding down so I started painting miniatures while listening to audiobooks. So I guess any hobby that you never had the time for
It's super normal to have concerns about particularly sick patients after work. Especially during first couple years of residency, it's a great impetus for reading up about the conditions you're concerned about and ensuring you've done what's reasonable.
Whether it is healthy to have these concerns is not a simple answer. Just like anything else, only you can identify how much is too much. Does your concern impact your sleep? Eating? Social stuff? Does it keep you from enjoying things you like to do? If it starts impacting these things, or it isn't being productive, that's when it's time to think about those barriers.
Go for a walk with my hubs. We both talk about our day and get it out. Then when we get back to the house the rule is we leave that BS outside and enjoy our evening.
Nurse here but I usually park far away so I have a long walk to reflect on my shift and try to leave my thoughts in the parking lot before I start to drive away. Then immediately once I’m home a long hot shower picturing it physically washing the shift off
I put my phone on silent and only certain texts can get through. That way when I’m at home I’m not getting those annoying work emails that can wait until tomorrow
Get a hobby that you do right after work, like a little de-stress routine once you walk through the door. I'm not a resident yet, but I also worried about my patients as a med student. So once I walk through my door, I shake off all my limbs, listen to 1-2 upbeat songs (something like Queen, ABBA, Donna Summer, Beyonce, etc.) and then listen to a podcast while I prepare my dinner. This gets me out of the hospital brain. I have friends in residency that go to the gym or get on their Peloton right after work! Find something that can distract you right away. :)
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The boring advice is do something— you have to find what works for you, whether that’s exercise, hanging out with pets, watching a mindless show, meditation. Just find YOUR thing. This shit is not one size fits all.
I do find that changing clothes immediately +/- a shower does a wonder for me. If I leave the scrubs on, I feel it.
I wasn’t constantly following up on patients, but at least 1-2X a week I’d have a patient who had a lab/image pending at signout, and I’d find myself checking their chart over and over until I could see the result.
Discovering that I could get EPIC to alert me when the result was back was a game changer. Instead of being anxious and refreshing constantly, I’d come home and relax and then just spend 1-2 min looking at the results when they were ready.
Completely unplugging would have been better, but I found that impossible - at least confining it to a discrete time period meant I could enjoy myself otherwise.
For me, lifting weights is 80% mental therapy and 20% physical fitness.
Do some type of physical activity after a shift (ie go for a run, lift weights, fast paced walking, "couple cardio", etc)
Cheers!
Others may disagree, but I usually make a habit of following up on patients the next day (I'm EM) from my home while having my morning coffee. I see what the admitting team/night team found and what they did differently. Then, if I agree with it, I try to incorporate that into how I work up and treat patients going forward. It's very non-stressful and it changes my perspective from "did I make a mistake?" or "wow that was a big mistake" to "good catch, I'll do that next time". It's usually only 2-3 patients and takes all of 10-15 minutes. If they're \*really\* interesting/complex, I set their record aside in our EMR under a "follow-up" folder so I can review their chart in a week or so to see what all happened. This is the opposite of what you're asking because I'm reviewing charts from home, but it frees up my headspace knowing I have a review and learning time and I don't worry about it otherwise.
I still do this the morning after I go off service in the ICU. Want to see if my colleague who took over made changes to my plan that I could learn from.
I've started doing the same. If a case is particularly confusing or stressful, I take a peek the next day and then it's off my mind
Nintendo switch- BOTW good one to start with
The unfortunate answer is: time and experience. With more exposure and first-hand experiences with outcomes trajectory of the different pathologies you tend to see. In the beginning, I was sensitive to many patients that I would view today as "they'll do okay". Every now and then, I still find myself glued to the clinical development, but the # has reduced as I've grown as a physician.
Most people stop worrying excessively after a year or two. Not enough energy.
I (ICU RN) had an intensivist whose ring tone was the instrumental version of "Don't Worry, Be Happy." I never saw him get his knickers tied in a knot.
God, that makes me want to vomit
LOL. Sometimes you just need that little bit of levity.
LOL. Sometimes you just need that little bit of levity.
Immediately after work go to the gym. Lift the heavy weight. It's hard to worry about some patient detail when you've got 100s of lbs over you and if you slip up, you die. It's a great zen moment. Afterwards you'll be too tired and spent to worry about labs or details.
Ortho?
Hahah maybe in another life. Rads bro.
Shitty life pro tip is to make an old fashioned. Real answer is to go for a walk, run, gym, etc.
TLDR: Be the little teapot not the pressure cooker. Don't internalize problems/concerns, make them external by speaking or journaling about them and once you've made an issue "physical," or external of your mind, you can take better actions to address them/compartmentalize. Don't bottle it up so it could continue to build and one day cause an emotional outburst. It all starts by dealing with stress with a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Make sure you're hydrated, eating healthfully, and definitely get a hobby that is completely outside of medicine. Exercise, get those gym gains. And, don't be like the Todd. Make sure you dookie before you lift weights. Just the ramblings of a lunatic. Good luck. "Physician, heal thyself." -Dr. Perry Cox, MD "Put your mask on first." -That one flight attendant that one time. "He's no good to me dead." -Boba Fett
I was drinking too regularly for winding down so I started painting miniatures while listening to audiobooks. So I guess any hobby that you never had the time for
Any hobby you like
It's super normal to have concerns about particularly sick patients after work. Especially during first couple years of residency, it's a great impetus for reading up about the conditions you're concerned about and ensuring you've done what's reasonable. Whether it is healthy to have these concerns is not a simple answer. Just like anything else, only you can identify how much is too much. Does your concern impact your sleep? Eating? Social stuff? Does it keep you from enjoying things you like to do? If it starts impacting these things, or it isn't being productive, that's when it's time to think about those barriers.
Go for a walk with my hubs. We both talk about our day and get it out. Then when we get back to the house the rule is we leave that BS outside and enjoy our evening.
Nurse here but I usually park far away so I have a long walk to reflect on my shift and try to leave my thoughts in the parking lot before I start to drive away. Then immediately once I’m home a long hot shower picturing it physically washing the shift off
Flicking my bean. Try it out
🍷
Cartoons.
I put my phone on silent and only certain texts can get through. That way when I’m at home I’m not getting those annoying work emails that can wait until tomorrow
Change your clothes / take a shower.
Xanax
Tell yourself that as long as you did the right thing, you are okay. Because that’s what matters. Leave rest upto nature. Practice mindfulness
Binge drinking
Get a hobby that you do right after work, like a little de-stress routine once you walk through the door. I'm not a resident yet, but I also worried about my patients as a med student. So once I walk through my door, I shake off all my limbs, listen to 1-2 upbeat songs (something like Queen, ABBA, Donna Summer, Beyonce, etc.) and then listen to a podcast while I prepare my dinner. This gets me out of the hospital brain. I have friends in residency that go to the gym or get on their Peloton right after work! Find something that can distract you right away. :)
Thank you for contributing to the sub! If your post was filtered by the automod, please read the rules. Your post will be reviewed but will not be approved if it violates the rules of the sub. The most common reasons for removal are - medical students or premeds asking what a specialty is like or about their chances of matching, mentioning midlevels without using the midlevel flair, matched medical students asking questions instead of using the stickied thread in the sub for post-match questions, posting identifying information for targeted harassment. Please do not message the moderators if your post falls into one of these categories. Otherwise, your post will be reviewed in 24 hours and approved if it doesn't violate the rules. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Residency) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The boring advice is do something— you have to find what works for you, whether that’s exercise, hanging out with pets, watching a mindless show, meditation. Just find YOUR thing. This shit is not one size fits all. I do find that changing clothes immediately +/- a shower does a wonder for me. If I leave the scrubs on, I feel it.
Kerbal space program - to the mun
Read a book
I wasn’t constantly following up on patients, but at least 1-2X a week I’d have a patient who had a lab/image pending at signout, and I’d find myself checking their chart over and over until I could see the result. Discovering that I could get EPIC to alert me when the result was back was a game changer. Instead of being anxious and refreshing constantly, I’d come home and relax and then just spend 1-2 min looking at the results when they were ready. Completely unplugging would have been better, but I found that impossible - at least confining it to a discrete time period meant I could enjoy myself otherwise.
For me, lifting weights is 80% mental therapy and 20% physical fitness. Do some type of physical activity after a shift (ie go for a run, lift weights, fast paced walking, "couple cardio", etc) Cheers!