A Message From Your President, Leslie Johnson, RN, FACHE

The 2019 Coronavirus Disease has changed so many individual’s lives in so many ways. As I am writing this article, the United States alone has had over 120,000 deaths due to COVID-19 (worldometers.info). We grieve this loss of life. Each day we also experience grief for a loss of normal routine. This may have impacted us, our friends, our family members, and our co-workers, as individuals.

Stay-at-home measures, although entirely necessary, have changed how we work, educate, play, shop, worship, exercise, eat, entertain, relate, and communicate. Because of this, the pandemic has created a psychological impact in which individuals fear they are losing their sense of control, freedom, and security. If you have experienced this – don’t look now – but you are grieving a life / attachment you previously had. This is normal.

As a leader, it is important to care for yourself and those within your community that are experiencing this. Here are a few key ways to help in addressing this normal loss of routine the world is facing:

• Pay attention to your feelings – Write it down!
• Affirm your strengths and use your coping skills
• Stay connected – Join the zoom wave and stay connected with friends and family. Everyone needs this source of support.
• Create your own adapted routine – Change the way you exercise or create a new hobby!
• Limit your news intake – Don’t set your news reading, podcasts, or social media content to focus on COVID-19!
• Let this be a journey – This small time period will not define you!

I want to time the time to thank all of the nurses, physicians, and healthcare provider s for their selfless commitment to fighting COVID-10 and the grief it has caused. Without your sacrifice, the loss of life and grief would be even higher from COVID-19.

With gratitude,

Leslie Johnson
President, Chicago Health Executives Forum