Wellbeing Special Interest Group

The aim of the Wellbeing Special Interest Group (SIG) is to promote the personal and psychological wellbeing and to heighten awareness of wellbeing issues in anaesthetists and pain medicine specialists. The group is an informative, educative and referral group; it has no therapeutic role.

The Wellbeing SIG runs sessions at various annual meetings including the Combined SIG meeting, ANZCA Annual Scientific Meeting and Australian Society of Anaesthetists National Scientific Congress. This provides an opportunity to share new research and data on Australian and New Zealand anaesthetists, discuss important and topical issues and to network with peers. In addition, members of the executive will often present at other wellbeing-related events and liaison with other professional bodies.

 

WELLBEING SIG RESOURCE DOCUMENTS

Please visit the Wellbeing SIG LibGuide to access the resource documents. In the Wellbeing SIG LibGuide you can also access a wide range of wellbeing resources, including COVID-19 wellbeing resources, the Peer Group Guide, ASA articles, journal articles, apps, publications, and podcasts.

The resource documents, developed by the Wellbeing SIG, provide brief comment, give references, and identify strategies for use in dealing with the more common professional and personal stresses. If you are a member of the SIG but not a FANZCA please contact the Senior Events Officer for access to these documents.

If you would like to create a resource document, please view the resource document submission guidelines.

 

DOCTORS HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Find out what ANZCA is doing to support your health and wellbeing, and the services and resources available to you and your family.

 

COVID19 - LOOKING AFTER YOUR WELLBEING

During our response to COVID19, many of us will be feeling anxious, uncertain or overwhelmed. Remember we are all in this together. The Wellbeing Special Interest Group has some tips to help you carry on and to look after yourself. Please see attached document.
 

AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ANAESTHETISTS ARTICLES

The articles below are "produced by the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and reproduced with permission" 

 

• Caring for you - click here
• Returning to work after illness - click here
• Returning to work after maternity leave - click here
• The isolated anaesthetist - click here
• The role of the welfare officer - click here
• Trainee welfare - click here
• Transition to retirement - click here
• Wellness: A professional obligation - click here

 

Please visit the Wellbeing SIG LibGuide to access more articles.  

Australian Society of Anaesthetist’s Podcast

 

Everything you need to know about forming a Peer Group those hard to earn CPD points! 

Dr Suzi Nou chats with Dr Kushlani Stevenson, Executive Committee Member of the ANZCA/ASA/NZSA Wellbeing Special Interest Group and author of the Peer Group document. 

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

Dear colleague,

On Tuesday 17 March 2020, I was part of a training SIM in preparation for intubation and management of COVID-19 patients. I thought it was pretty routine.... until I passed a close colleague on his way to intubate one of the real COVID patients in our ICU. It felt a bit like watching the first soldier going over the top.

It may be stating the bleeding obvious, but all predictions point to a major crisis in our lives for the foreseeable future

Many in the general community will become ill. Some will die. There will likely be business failures, job losses and financial suffering.

We in medicine will see our friends and family, and our colleagues experiencing this. And in anaesthesia we will be in the front line, along with our ED and ICU colleagues, in caring directly with these patients. We are at increased risk of contracting the virus with all its consequences, of finding ourselves isolated from our families, working outside our comfort zones, and experiencing concern for our own safety and for our co-workers.

What can we do? 

• Be informed. Keep up to date about the virus, transmission and pathogenesis. Know your hospital protocols and practice them.
• Be aware that as time goes on, you and your colleagues will become fatigued, stressed and at risk of error. Have compassion for yourself and others when stress becomes overt.
• Take care of one another. Ask about each other’s wellbeing and concerns, about family and friends, about plans unfulfilled. Your interest in others will make a huge difference to their wellbeing and the team.
• Maintain a sense of humour. Any sort of humour boosts morale
• Be aware of your supports and talk to them, be they family, colleagues, your department wellbeing officer or counsellors. Talk to your mentor(s) now and frequently. Keeping your worries to yourself is a sure way to see them fester and become irrational.

Life may not be the same when this is all over, whether in regards to the health of our community or financially. But at present we have a job to do, and focusing on what’s in front of us rather than potential future scenarios, will help us to manage. And hopefully in the future we will look back at this episode in our lives and recognise that we did well under difficult circumstances.

As always, if anything in the above has caused you mental health issues, please contact your general practitioner or alternatively, if you are in Australia or New Zealand:

• Doctors' Health Advisory Service
• beyondblue
• Call 0800 471 2654 in New Zealand
  
  

Best wishes,

Greg Downey
Chair, Wellbeing SIG

 

FUTURE ACTIVITIES

2021 Combined Communication, Education, Welfare, and Leadership and Management SIG Meeting

For further information on this meeting, please click here.

PAST EVENTS

2019 Combined Communication, Education, Welfare, and Leadership and Management SIG Meeting
"Developing leaders with 20:20 vision", convened by the Leadership and Management SIG.
Held July 26-28, Novotel Sydney Manly Pacific, NSW. 
Please visit the meeting website to view the presentation slides.

NEWSLETTERS

NEWSLETTERS

Please see below for the latest and past newsletters

 

August 2018

December 2017

December 2016

February 2016

July 2015

January 2015

August 2014

January 2014

July 2013 

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

Recommendations for future articles of the month are welcome.  Please contact Events  

MEMBERSHIP

If you would like to join the Wellbeing SIG, please download an application form or contact the ANZCA events team.

 

EXECUTIVE

The executive of the Wellbeing SIG meets regularly, usually via teleconference to discuss matters related to the group's area of interest.

 

Position	Name	Region
Chair	Dr Greg Downey	NSW
Member	Dr Robert Fry	NZ
Member	Dr Anna Hallett	Qld
Member	Dr Tim Porter	SA
Member	Dr Kushlani Stevenson	Vic
Member	Dr Tracey Tay	NSW
Member	Dr Heman Tse	ACT
Member	Dr Jo Sinclair	NZ
Member	Dr Divya Sharma	WA
Member	Dr Wendy Falloon	Tas
ASA representative	Dr Antonio Grossi	Vic
NZSA representative	Dr Emma Patrick	NZ
RANZCP representative	Dr Shirley Prager	Vic
Trainee representative	Dr Claire Maxwell	Qld

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES

• Articles in ANZCA Bulletin, ASA newsletters and other publications.
• Doctors’ health advisory services numbers in ANZCA Bulletin and ASA newsletter.
• Liaison with ANZCA, ASA, NZSA, doctors health advisory services, regional medical boards.