How might stress affect your performance as a healthcare worker?

That’s the question that Mark Stacey, a consultant obstetric anaesthetist in Cardiff, has been interested in for the past 10 years. He saw similarities in the aviation industry, which uses a theory of human factors to explain why things go wrong when humans interact with complex systems.

Stress was a major culprit, in both aerospace and medicine, so he began to explore wellbeing as a way to reduce stress and, in turn, reduce adverse events. He has developed the idea of writing yourself a wellbeing prescription, which includes practical techniques such as the Baker’s Dozen and a gratitude diary.

Useful tools

Bakers Dozen https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/808950/Bakers-Dozen-Toolkit.pdf

A 30 day plan that Mark has put together http://www.cardiffandvaleuhb.wales.nhs.uk/improving-resilience-in-anaesthesia