What links a doctor, a plane & a man from Greece?

Put Your Oxygen Mask on First Photo: Tom Barrett

What links a doctor, a plane and a man from Greece…?

Some clues…

The man is Hippocrates.

Cabin crew tell you to put your oxygen mask on, before helping others… *

Permission is the link.

Cabin crew have the right idea. We need to look after ourselves in order to help others.

I was rubbish at giving myself permission to care for myself and ended up in burnout. 

It was a really tough time. 

So, I founded The Working Well Doctor, to inspire & empower caring professionals to avoid the mistakes I made.

The Hippocratic Oath is amazing. It really is.

But, until 2017 there was no mention of the doctor’s needs, just '...my patient will be my first consideration’ and all that…

…then, finally - Dr Sam Hazeldine from Medworld lobbied to get the following added;

I WILL ATTEND TO my own health, well-being, and abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard;

Seeing this in black and white really helped me give myself permission to help myself, as well as the patient.
And this was the key to my recovery.

My sense is, when we juggle several caring roles, both within and outside work, it can be easy for our needs to get overlooked.

Has this ever happened to you?

We had a great discussion on this last week, in a workshop for mums returning after mat leave. 

I designed and delivered it for the wonderful PLUSbabyseminars. 

Explore More

If you fancy exploring more on Permission for caring professionals - perhaps dip into the revised Hippocratic Oath, which is now called the Declaration of Geneva.

Or have a read of ‘You Cannot Pour From An Empty Cup’ here.

*[here’s hoping we can get back to air travel sometime soon!]