protecting your flame:
actionable strategies to help athletic trainers recover from & be resilient to burnout
You love the work you do, but does it love you back? Wondering how much longer you can do this? If you’ve been feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or unhappy with your work-life balance, this continuing education module was made for you. Join me as we explore burnout and compassion fatigue in the profession of Athletic Training, and the strategies and resources that can help you combat and prevent it, in this on-demand workshop.
why take this course?
Burnout has frequently been documented among athletic trainers across all job settings, and in addition to having effects on physical and mental health, it has been linked to attrition within our profession. Burnout has also been directly associated with both the likelihood of an AT committing a medical error and the number of errors an AT committed.
However, much of the traditional advice proposed for “dealing with” or “recovering from” burnout is not reasonable to implement within the constraints of a traditional AT’s work demands. In addition, many of the characteristics that make ATs who they are - empathy, passion, prioritization of their work - have been posited to contribute to the phenomenon of burnout in other job settings.
Within this presentation, we will look at the most up-to-date research on burnout within Athletic Training as well as other healthcare and helping professions, the short-term and long-term effects of burnout, and explore individual and organizational solutions. We will also compare and contrast burnout and compassion fatigue, to help ATs recognize which they might be experiencing. This presentation seeks to acknowledge the unique qualities of the AT experience of burnout and compassion fatigue and provide ATs with actionable strategies relevant to their current job setting in order to best serve them and the athletes, patients, and clients they work with.
learning objectives:
At the conclusion of this course, ATs will:
Understand the difference between burnout and compassion fatigue, and be able to identify which one they may be experiencing.
Identify the specific factors that may be contributing to their individual experience of burnout/compassion fatigue, as well as recognize the factors that contribute to burnout/ compassion fatigue in our profession and community in general.
Identify which contributing factors are within their immediate control and develop actionable strategies to manage these factors, both for themselves and their colleagues if appropriate.
what about CEUs?
Before making this module available online, I gave this presentation at the 2023 CT and NY state Athletic Trainers Association annual conferences. The presentation was designed in alignment with BOC CE standards, and meets the requirements for submission as a Category D activity. You will receive a certificate upon completion of the module for your records, and you’ll have full access to the slides and references in the unlikely event that you get audited. (It happened to me once, so I try to think ahead!) I expect that the video plus journaling portions of the course will take approximately 2 hours to complete, so you can submit for 2.0 Category D CEUs. You’ll get lifetime access to this on-demand workshop, so you can complete it when it fits into YOUR schedule.
why i created this:
As an Athletic Trainer, I began my career working in the D1 College setting. I often ate 3 meals a day in the Athletic Training Room, came in on my days off to treat my injured athletes, and missed friends’ weddings, birthdays, and other special occasions when my teams were in season. I never resented it - it was part of the job, and I loved my job. Over the years, I worked in other sectors (research, teaching, outpatient PT, concierge sports performance & rehab), but continued to find that I gave 100% to my patients and clients, no matter where I was. This made me a great employee and an amazing Athletic Trainer, and while I was happy with the results of my efforts, I wasn’t truly happy with my life. With more time off, when I wasn’t at work, I gave 100% to my social life - you know, the “work hard, play hard” thing. But when I had time to myself, I had to acknowledge that I was exhausted - sometimes physically, sometimes mentally, and most often, emotionally. In excelling at being a helper, a giver, a caretaker, a team mom, an ally, and an advocate, I wasn’t taking care of myself. I’m not talking about bubble baths, shopping, and ice cream or wine “treat yo’self” time (although I did try all of those!) - I’m talking about deep, soul level self-care.
One of my goals since I started my own business is to help as many ATs as possible thrive in our profession, without struggling on the long and winding road that I took to achieve professional satisfaction and fulfillment. I hope to continue creating content in various forms that will support my AT colleagues in their pursuit of a happy, healthy, and sustainable Athletic Training career.
what people are saying:
“This was very powerful. I was able to remember why I chose Athletic Training as my career.”
“After reflecting on the prompts, I noticed a change in myself.”
“This was my favorite lecture of the conference.”
“The time for reflection and advice to talk the questions through with other ATs was very meaningful and helpful for me.”
“This course provided me with names to the things I have felt in the past 10 years in my career. This just makes me realize I am not alone and it is a career wide problem no matter the site you work in.”
“Absolutely incredible and what I needed today. Thank you, Erica!”
“I downloaded the workbook and have already come back to my slides for some reinforcement!”
“Everyone should take this course, especially us hustlers in the sports medicine world. We are all in need of strategies to protect our flame - the flame that enables us to do what we do every day.”
Investment: $27.99
Protecting Your Flame is also available as a live course for your staff. Please contact me at erica@thenotoriousatc.com for details.