COVID 19 PEOPLE COMING BACK TO LIFE HOW TO

We just need to know where to look for them'.ĭr Stephen Parnis faced burnout from the pressure of working as an emergency physician during Melbourne's many COVID surges and lockdowns.

COVID 19 PEOPLE COMING BACK TO LIFE HOW TO

The key lesson, Dr Parnis says, was understanding how to lower his expectations on himself: 'I don't have to be perfect.

My GP and my psychologist have been an important part of that time, but so have trusted friends and colleagues.' 'It was important to have time and space. 'I wasn't myself and if I'd continued doing what I was doing I might have ended up having some sort of flame out,' he admits. 'I've done a lot of soul searching, looking at where my limits lie and asking how I sustain myself through this?'įor the first time since 1995, Dr Parnis took three months' leave. For most of us in healthcare, the pandemic has posed the biggest single challenge of our entire careers and mine began in 1992,' says Dr Parnis, a former vice-president of the Australian Medical Association. Then three months ago, Dr Parnis hit the wall. His job demanded long hours: treating patients, keeping across new therapies and life-saving strategies, while managing the impact of surging virus numbers and multiple lockdowns on overworked hospital staff and grieving families.Įvery day as he went to work, Dr Parnis knew the virus could take the upper hand, and month after month he carried with him the weight of two questions: how many lives could be saved today? How many would be lost? Since the pandemic first found its way into our consciousness, Melbourne emergency physician Stephen Parnis has been working on the crest of every COVID-19 wave.

Covid 19 people coming back to life