Christmas staff magazine

David bounces back with the help of
the dedicated staff physiotherapy
service
Do you feel like you’re on
‘autopilot’?
We can all lose touch with what’s going on and not notice our emotions -
with the stresses of work and busy lives it is easy to do.
David attended physiotherapy due to an episode of lower
back and right leg pain.
He said: “It had reached a point that I was starting to find
my normal home and work activities very difficult.”
David’s symptoms had reached such intensity that
his GP had signed him off work, he said:
“I was informed by occupational health that there
was a staff physiotherapy service and they arranged
a referral. Once I was referred, I was quickly offered
assessment and started treatment.”
With some advice and treatment from the service, and
pain relief from his GP, David’s pain slowly started to
become more manageable. Gradually he was able to start
increasing his activities and he recently started gardening
and walking the dog again.
He is now being supported back into work on a phased return
to his duties and enjoying getting back to normal.
He said: “I’m pleased to be back to work and enjoying my light
exercise. I am continuing to build up my general fitness and hope
to continue to manage my symptoms well in the future.”
You can self-refer to the staff physiotherapy service
for any musculoskeletal problem, whether it is
work related or not.
Call 01670 529094 / ext. 33094 or complete
the self-referral form on the health and
wellbeing intranet page.
“The service
was a fantastic help to
my progress and I would
recommend staff physiotherapy
to anyone in my situation.
I would definitely use the
service again if
needed.”
Most of us live our lives on a schedule. From
pressures at work to rushing home to make dinner,
doing housework and chauffeuring the kids around,
it’s hard to find a balance and look after your
wellbeing – that’s where resilience training can help.
The training is based on a psychological model
known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
(ACT) and is part of the new generation of cognitive
behavioral therapies, based on two key elements:
1. MINDFULNESS - bringing awareness to your
present moment experience which is helpful for
wellbeing and performance. Mindfulness gives us a
greater sense of self-awareness, improves positive
mental health, improves our ability to cope with
stress and helps create a more cohesive
team environment.
“At first I wondered why I needed this training,
I assumed after 20 years of nursing I was
resilient enough. This training has really made
me think about how I deal with the pressures
of a busy job and home life and that no matter
how resilient we think we are, there is always
room for improvement. With access to the
Headspace app my family can benefit too.
I would recommend this training to anyone.”
Leah Taylor, lead lung cancer nurse,
North Tyneside hospital
2. VALUES-BASED ACTIONS - are principles about
what is important to us in life. It's about taking small
steps towards living the life we want to live - a more
valued life leads to a greater sense of meaning
and fulfillment.
We first launched our resilience training in
2012 and have since secured additional funding for
one year to train band 5 to 8 nurses. Keep an eye on
our intranet page as we are going to launch this to
all staff in early spring next year. So take advantage
of this training programme and book your session,
some of your colleagues already have…
“The resilience training has given me tools to
deal with changes at work. The CD has been
of particular use, I found the values part of
the course enabled me to reflect on both my
personal and professional life.”
Barbara Stanton, cluster lead for health
visiting in North Shields and Wallsend
“This has helped me and my family through
a very difficult time. The support from
management and staff was excellent and helped
me return to work supported. There is no shame
in asking for support, I believe it enhances the
quality of your care delivery.”
Pauline Stewart, staff nurse in POAS
David Sexton - Theatre porter at Wansbeck hospital
If you’re a band 5 to 8 nurse and think you could benefit from this training, please contact the learning
and development team to book or ask your manager to book this using ESR. For more information
visit the resilience training tab on the 'occupational health' intranet page. All training is provided by
the staff psychology and counselling service.
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