Photo By Christina Clarke | Staff from throughout U.S. Naval Hospital Naples, Italy participated in a three and a...... read more read more
As Lieutenant Victoria Selkirk teaches in front of a group of hospital staff, she is not operating under her title as Head of Nutrition Management. While her formal role has her nurturing the bodies of patients and staff, her role as the Caregiver Occupational Stress Control (CgOSC) trainer is to nurture the overall health and wellbeing of Sailors and DoD civilians.
The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations launched the Caregiver Occupational Stress Control (CgOSC) program in 2009. The purpose of the CgOSC program is to promote stress control strategies, decrease the stigma associated with mental health concerns, and build resiliency amongst Sailors and civilians. The program is of particular importance to medical personnel.
"The focus of any medical facility is the provision of care and rehabilitation of patients," says Selkirk. "However, a critical element of that care is the wellbeing of the providers themselves. If we aren't taking care of ourselves, we cannot take care of patients."
The scholarly community has defined this as compassion fatigue; the cumulative exposure to traumatic and stressful events when serving in a helping capacity. Compassion fatigue moves beyond the feeling of being "burnt out;" it encompasses a change in worldview and is detrimental to the provision of future care. Someone with compassion fatigue can experience a decrease in productivity, difficulty focusing, and feelings of incompetence.
The three and a half day training went beyond the basics and served as a train-the-trainer course. "The goal of this training is to increase the overall resiliency of our command and empower even more individuals with the skillset to recognize and treat the symptoms of stress and compassion fatigue," says Selkirk.
Over the course of the training, 15 personnel learned how to recognize signs of stress within themselves and colleagues, utilize appropriate responses, and provide follow-on care. The representation from multiple departments means the message and lessons learned will be widespread to staff and ultimately patients.
Hospital Corpsman First Class Tamisha Claxton, who works in the Dental Department, found the topic of continuous aid to be most salient. "I think one of the most important aspects of CgOSC is the element of follow-up. After a concern has been addressed, it can't just be fixed and dropped. The act of self-care and resiliency is an ongoing process," says Claxton.
Each month, employees at U.S. Naval Hospital Naples respond to an electronic Stress Continuum survey. Four different colors are used to measure an individual's response to stress. Green means fit, focused and ready to go; yellow indicates some distress and reactionary behavior; orange is more severe and persistent distress; red symbolizes the need for intervention and professional help. The tool is simple, yet effective, in tracking the overall stress of individuals and the command.
While the most recent class was catered to medical caregivers, Selkirk's goal is to extrapolate the training throughout the NSA Naples region and beyond. CgOSC capitalizes on relationships that already exist, namely colleague to colleague.
"The beautiful thing about providing care is that there are multiple ways to serve as a caregiver - you don't need to be a medical professional or perform spectacular gestures," says Selkirk. "If you notice a coworker isn't acting like their usual self, don't be a bystander - research has shown that simple human presence can make a positive difference."
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2018 09:35 |
| Story ID: | 286905 |
| Location: | NAPLES, IT |
| Web Views: | 180 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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