LM106 - Filling Your Bucket: Balancing Personal and Professional Commitment

Abstract:
This session is focused on an interactive discussion on addressing issues that impact the career of audiologists. Termed by some as "work-life balance", this learning module will explore opportunities and challenges that impact every audiologist at some point in their career. Addressing physical and mental health issues, family considerations (children, aging parents), and creating and providing supportive work spaces will be discussed. The intent of this session is to create a foundation for discussion, with the intent to develop a community within the profession to explore and grow these opportunities.

Summary:
The topic of "work-life" balance is often discussed in nearly every profession, including audiology. Often, however, the focus is on questions and complaints, without clear support or direction provided. This presentation will be built on the evidence-based research on workplace wellness and national guidelines for well-being, including the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Guidelines. The strategies from this guidance will be briefly discussed and the "framework for well-being" will be introduced. Many larger organizations are now developing programs that create work processes for employees that support balancing responsibilities of employees, based on the research that when this happens, better outcomes for patients, employees, and the community occur. Bringing this focus to the profession of audiology has the potential to improve professional satisfaction, productivity, and reduce burnout across the span of one's career.

The panelists will provide insight into how to address workplace health that supports their lives outside of the workplace and supports a well-being framework of a culture of well-being, developing an efficiency in clinical practice, and supporting personal resilience. Panelists were selected to represent various stages in their careers, practice settings, and experiences they would like to share with the profession so others may gain insight from their experiences. The panel's input will address concerns and questions that frequently arise in the profession (e.g. how do I negotiate time off; how do I address mental health issues with my employer; how do I discuss the need for time off to care for my aging parents) and include strategies for workplace expectations. In addressing tactics and strategies for an audiologist moving from workplace burnout to thriving in their life, recommendations for developing boundaries and "drawing a line in the sand" will be highlighted.

In developing this session, a significant number of audiologists were contacted regarding interest in this topic. The response was overwhelming, with many colleagues being interested in both presenting and attending. The hope is that this session will be a starting point for developing opportunities for the profession to explore these topics, create evidence-based solutions, and create audiologist who are satisfied with their careers and resilient in the demands that they face as professionals and people. Audiologists that responded regarding this session indicated a willingness to share their stories, solutions, challenges and be agents of change for the profession and for the organizations where audiologists are employed. They suggested ongoing sessions, "lean in" types of discussions, presentations from both the science and the clinical aspects of this (e.g. human resource professionals), along with other types of options. The importance of sharing this information is critical in order to attract and retain a professional workforce committed to patient care and this type of focus certainly helps to raise the bar in positive ways for the profession.