Balancing Act: New Network For Women In Health Care Offers Care For The Caregivers

Online, April 5, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Health care is a demanding profession, especially for women too busy caring for others to care for themselves. These women now have a place to turn for help: the National Association of Women in Health Care (NAWHC), a new group dedicated to giving women who practice in all fields of health care the tools they need to strike that all-important work-life balance.

"Women who work in health care often put ourselves last on our 'to do' lists," notes founder and president Anna Garrett, PharmD, manager of Outpatient Clinical Pharmacy Servcies at Mission Hospitals in Asheville, North Carolina. "It's time to turn that around and make ourselves a priority." Garrett says she was inspired to take action one day when the demands of running a pharmacy clinic made her sometimes feel like a "hamster in a wheel"-seeing upwards of 40 patients a day. "I looked around at my colleagues and thought to myself, we really have some of the unhealthiest women working in health care."
Thus, the seeds of the National Association of Women in Health Care were sown. "This organization is about giving women permission to take care of themselves. It's about creating community and sharing our stories so we can all move forward, knowing that a little self-care will make us better caregivers, parents, and partners," Garrett explains. She adds that that women who practice in any health care setting-be they a nurse working in a neonatal intensive care unit or a pharmacist with little or no time to counsel patients in a high-volume practice-are particularly vulnerable to leading stressful lives that are out-of-balance:
"These women tend to be giving personalities, and today's landscape presents them with even more challenges. They are working longer shifts and seeing more patients, and the patients they see-many of whom have put off health care for economic reasons or lack of insurance-are increasingly complex. It's hard to meet the needs of patients and still find time for ourselves," says Garrett, noting that such an environment makes this is a particularly opportune moment to launch an organization that focuses on the personal needs of these hardworking caregivers. She adds that although NAWHC is open to all women working in health care, its target base is those women who have been in the field about 10 years or more and are often more likely to experience burnout.
NAWHC differs from more traditional professional associations that tend to focus primarily on professional and scientific issues, Garrett explains, and it is the only organization devoted to all women in health care: "We support the person, rather than the career."
The organization achieves this goal through a wide-ranging support network designed to bring more balance, health, and fun into the lives of women overwhelmed with career and family responsibilities. NAWHC provides these women with practical tools and resources for integrating simple self-care strategies into their daily routine, through such interactive opportunities as coaching circles (where members can get questions answered via monthly, one-hour telephone sessions devoted to meeting their self-care challenges) and bimonthly teleseminars (featuring wellness and self-care experts offering advice and answering questions on such topics as "dialing down holiday madness" and "saying 'no' to the demands of a 24/7 world," as well as information on alternative medicine and stress-reduction techniques).
Members also will receive the NAWHC monthly e-newsletter, Thriving in Health Care, and have special access to an online global network for additional support, expert advice, and self-care resources.
The group's advisory board includes health and wellness professionals representing an array of health care practice sites. Board member Marsha Millonig, MBA, RPH, president and chief executive officer of the health care consulting firm Catalyst Enterprises, LLC, notes that the needs of women working in health care often get put on the back burner. "We dedicate ourselves to improving the care of others through our work in health care, but we often fail to make our self-care a priority. NAWHC and its network of supportive women will help us change that-and ourselves-for the better."
NAWHC will host an association launch event on September 27, 2010. Say Ahh....2010 NAWHC Day of Self-Care will be an all-day telesummit. Registration for the telesummit will open on August 16, 2010. Participants can drop in for all or part of the day's events, and they will have access to recordings of all of the sessions.
To learn more about joining the National Association of Women in Health Care, please visit www.nawhc.com; discounted membership rates are offered during this pre-launch period. Links to the group can also be found via Facebook and Twitter.