Introduce Yourself to the 7 Cups Healthcare Workers Support Space!!

Hiiii. I’m Remi!! :) nice to be here

@HopieRemi Nice to meet you Remi!

Retired healthcare worker. But the years of being in the field has made me who I am today.

thank you, all of you who are currently working "in the trenches"

hello! i'm Jellyfish, you can also call me edge. i'm just an anxious ball in need of support during a huge step in my life.

Glad to be here. I'm currently going to school to be an addiction recovery life coach.

@Bre4Me sounds amazing! You'll be able to help many people after it. 💚

Hello everyone!

I work at a local hospital, as an Aide in the Operating Room. As a Casual staff, my shifts are only to cover vacation of fellow colleagues. So, I currently have no shifts until mid-March. Staff's vacation days are usually from May-December, early in the year, I only get a week here and there.

I'm the youngest on my team, and sometimes, I feel that my colleagues don't like me. They question my work ethics (which I think I'm a hard-worker, does my tasks neatly and thoroughly), and sometimes nag me in doing certain tasks. Telling me to do things, that I already know I need to do, it gets annoying. Yes, I might be younger than them, but it doesn't mean I need to be reminded of every time they see me.

I can't trust anyone on my team, they seem to hold grudges. It's hard sometimes, working with them. When they are in a bad mood themselves, they take it out on me. When I'm not in a good mood myself, I just focus on my work, and have as little interaction with them as necessary. I don't bring my bad mood onto someone else, like they do.

I get along well with the nurses though, many of them are very helpful and friendly.

I used to work in a different department, although it was still closely tied to the Operation Room, but the work there had become really stressful, and had colleagues that stabbed me in the back. Making me feel uncomfortable working with them on the same shift. So, I've been an Aide for almost 2 years now. The only other problem is, I'd rather have a full-time position. There's only 3 full-time positions as an Aide. The other 3 colleagues, have at least another 5+ years before their retirement. Since the positions are hired by seniority (accumulated hours of service in any Healthcare Position), by the time it comes, my hours would still not be nearly as much as others who had tried to apply earlier for one of the positions.

There are other full-time positions at other hospitals, but the one I'm at, is so close to home. I'm not wasting my time in traffic/transit to and from work. I'm okay with working as a Casual for now, as I'm studying part-time on the side. My family would like for me to have a steady income though, working to cover vacation, is still quite unstable, although I am the only person to cover vacation shifts.

Sorry, for the long post, I tend to talk a lot when I don't have an outlet to share any thoughts about work. Thank you for making this space!~

Hello!! My names Meteor, I worked as a CNA in a covid unit of a nursing home for a year. I was very young when I got into the profession, so I’m hoping to help some others with figuring out their course in life and how to transition into being a healthcare worker (which is still so weird for me to call myself, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it haha). It’s awesome that we now have our own dedicated space :D

Hello everyone

I am Doctor, though not directly related to healthcare system. I have done MBA after medicine & I work with pharmaceutical company in medical & strategy team. But I still consider myself a healthcare professional, as my education allows me to treat my family, relatives, friends & whoever I can be of some help with my medical knowledge.

I also love being listener here, & my education definitely helps me in better understanding my members. Though I always keep in mind about not giving direct medical advises to anyone.

Nice to meet you all. Take care

hi everyone, I’m a pharmacy technician ! dealing with anxiety and depression. used to self harm too but am clean for like 2 years now. yay. it’s hard to not make mistakes at work because we’re dealing with patients’ lives and a small mistake can cause them to have the wrong medicine. i don’t have anyone to talk to at work about my condition and nobody knows at work about it. ironically my colleague say that I’m cheerful at work. if only they knew…

Hi puppet I feel you on this. I work in a hospital and every mistake I make I feel like I'm going to have a breakdown because our work is so important. I also struggle with depression/anxiety and previously sh.. if you need someone to talk to ever, I'm here and I understand your situation :)

I get that a lot at work too. No one can tell that I'm dealing with depression in reality. I think I tend to put on a different personality at work, compared to when I'm alone. I remember I had a previous colleague who developed intense anxiety and depression early in the job, she had to take a medical leave for a few months. During her time off, I personally contacted her and offered my help. Having gone through depression (still coping now), I was able to give her some guidance and share my experiences and coping skills. She tells me that she couldn't tell that I have depression, as it doesn't show at all while we worked together.

So, we're all here for each other, if you need any type of support. Cheers~

@stringhyphenpuppet

Avo here. I work in an outpatient setting. Has been a rough 2 years and I feel burnout. So tired of all this Covid stuff. As healthcare workers, we don’t get a break from it. We don’t have the luxury to just forget or not think about it. Today was actually not too bad of a day, but I really don’t like late patients. It’s disrespectful. When patients are late, it means I don’t get to go to lunch on time, or I get less of a break, The Only break of my workday, in a stressful job. And it means I don’t get to go home at a decent time to see my family or friends. Which is already limited with the long workdays, sometimes even weekends. Sometimes it feels like patients forget I’m human and have a life, or at least try to, outside of work. And it’s annoying when patients get mad if we’re running late. We are literally working as efficiently as we can. We don’t enjoy running behind or having to stay through lunch or late hours. So trust me, we are going as fast as we can. But people seem to forget it’s a medical appointment, and not some beauty salon appointment where you should expect you’ll always be seen right on time. We are dealing with life and death and some people are really sick and require more time from us than the allotted appointment time. And unfortunately the late patients make us run behind. And if you are refusing to vaccinate or wear a mask, it’s basically a slap in our face and the sacrifices we have had to make for the benefit of the community, in the past 2 years. Don’t want to hear how hard it is for you to wear a mask, when I’ve had to wear one (usually an N95 which hurts and bruises my face) at work every day for nearly 2 years. 🩺

It seems that the past two years, people had become less patient, with all the ever-changing regulations. You would've thought that during these times, that people will understand each other more, especially towards health care workers. We are the ones helping the general public with all their illnesses and health concerns, but their actions reflect that our service is to be taken for granted.

I agree, it seems that people do tend to like being late for medical appointments. It's like, they think they're the only ones seeking medical help, and no one else really matters. They also don't feel sorry, not many will apologize for being late, nor would they call ahead of time to say they'll be running late either. Where's all the respect for each other? You'd think during the past two years, peoples' mindset and how they see the world/society around them would've changed!~

@greenAvocado14

Does everyone else need to pay for parking? At my hospital, it had been free parking for everybody the past year or so, but our parkade is not gated or anything, so anyone can park. There had been ongoing extensions/construction at my Hospital, so a lot of spots taken are from construction workers and contractors, then, you might even have other people who park their vehicles here and take public transit. Since at Park & Ride lots, you have to pay to park. Every day, after 0900, parking is so scarce. My shift starts at 1100, and I arrive at 1000 to find parking, sometimes, end up parking on the street. It's such a hassle to find parking, and sometimes even the streets have no spot, or you have to walk very far. Many times I had to call in to say I'll be running late because I can't find parking. But then, sometimes I get lucky, but not frequently. There's even less parking because our Hospital always have students doing their Practicums.

It had been announced that in March, paid parking will be put back in. Apparently someone in my Province started a Petition to allow free parking for health care workers. Hopefully there's enough signatures to have something happen. I don't care if I have to pay or not, it'd just be nice if health care workers are somehow guaranteed a car space. I mean, we are the ones that keep the Hospitals running. I do know though, before when it was paid parking, there are staff that did not have the parking pass nor did they want to pay for parking, so they park on the curb and then move their vehicle during their breaks. So, I thought once parking is paid again, at least 10% of staff would be back on the curb. I guess, if they can somehow identify the vehicle parked is of a health care worker, then allow them to park for free, that might work too? At least, construction workers won't be able to park here~

Wow, I cannot believe you have to pay for parking. That is so wrong. Parking should be free for healthcare workers. I can’t imagine any other job that makes their employees pay for parking at work. Makes no sense. I hope they make it free for you.

I'm a medical professional and I work at a university medical center. I cover the emergency department, open heart, and intensive care units. I am currently working long hours due to the pandemic. It is nice that there is a place for all ancillary medical workers to be able to come to and express their frustrations as well as their accomplishments.

Hi, I'm a paramedic/firefighter. I'm really glad to see this effort on our behalf. Thank you!

Hi there.. I thought I did this or mentioned this somewhere here in the forum, but I will introduce myself again.

I'm OCEAN~ I lead the Healthy Living Subcommunity.. And I am a Registered Nurse. Hello everyone👍

@ASilentObserver

Hi , I am kind , I was a covid doctor around 2020-2021 and currently I am a final year psychiatry resident doctor in a tertiary care hospital.

Hello. One thing I never imagined doing was medical. Majority of my family are in the medical field, so I thought I would something different. Boy was I wrong. I'm trying to get my license in nursing.

@ASilentObserver

I am Michael I am a resident physician MD internal medicine

Hi, I am Meez78😊. Healthcare worker here!♥️ Love what I do, can't imagine doing anything else anymore.

Hi! I’m Jess! Hoping to find people to talk to and relate to!

Hi I'm a paramedic/firefighter. I struggle with PTSD which isn't the easiest thing to publically admit in my life of work. I believe it's important to address the serious issue of mental health in healthcare workers in any way possible and appreciate everything cups is doing.

@DarkGalaxy55555

Totally agree with you, I have friends who are paramedics, and I have worked in ER, ICU, etc. It's tough a lot of times. Make sure that your cup isn't empty my friend

Hello, I'm BaconOctopus and I'm new to the group. I'm an American expat living in Europe (for privacy reasons, I'm not saying which country) and I just discovered this group thanks to Google. I'm living with a flatmate who is always bossing me around and yelling at me when I don't do something the "right way" (i.e. her way). I try my very hardest to listen and follow her instructions, but I always forget a step or mess something up (I suspect I might have ADHD, but I've never been officially tested). As an example, I used a sponge the other day that clearly said it was for the bathroom on the package to clean the inside of the toilet, and she scolded me for 3 hours.

Hi, I'm a trauma psychotherapist in a small town which makes me feel lonely due to the importance of managing dual relationships

The HCW support group has been re-introduced , starting every Monday at 10.30am EST looking forward to seeing you all again

Where does this group happen at? In the chat rooms?

Hey everyone!!

My name is Kayla 😊 I currently working in the Behavioral Healtchare field. I am a Substance Abuse Technician at a Recovery Center. I’m also working on a Substance Abuse Counseling Degree right now.

Honestly, it’s been a little rough to be honest. Not with the clients mainly. I absolutely love the interactions I have with them. There are some rough days where they are having issues. I’m a recovering addict, 2.5 years. My sober date is June 8th, 2021. Most of the people I work with are also in recovery. Some who aren’t, but they are young and immature. What makes working where I do stressful is the backstabbing that happens. And the company I work for seems to give no flying toots about their safety or wellbeing a lot of the time. I just strongly dislike how they just see them as money and numbers sometimes instead of human beings. They deserve to be taken care of and respected just like people who have never been in addiction before.

Anyways! Sorry for the ramble! I love helping people and this is my dream job. It’s very rewarding, but it can also be a bit overwhelming at times! I have to keep my personal and work life separate. But sometimes I get so worried about particular clients, it’s hard not to bring that worry home with me.

It’s nice to meet all of you! ♥️🌸💕⭐️