Trapeze, tennis and motorcycling: How Windsor health-care workers are tackling stress amid Omicron

After taking the stress of COVID-19 home and having emotional breakdowns in the middle of the pandemic, certified rehab assistant Louise Raymond has been managing her mental health differently during yet another, much different wave of the virus.

As a front line health-care worker for 15 years at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, Raymond said Omicron has been "particularly difficult" because of staffing shortages brought on by the more transmissible variant. She finds herself doing things outside of her normal scope of practice, such as helping nurses and answering call bells, just to "get the patients' basic needs met."

"The first lockdown everyone was scared, we all really came together as a team and everyone really supported each other. This lockdown is different. Everyone is tired, everyone's kind of at their wit's end," said Raymond, adding her colleagues continue to support each other.

Throughout the pandemic, she's been providing occupational therapy to her patients — some of them COVID-positive. This time though, Raymond said she's better equipped with the tools to take care of herself too.

Watch Louise Raymond talk about the emotional toll COVID has taken on her as a front line health-care worker:

At the beginning, she admitted to pushing her emotions to the side thinking someone else had it worse. Raymond quickly realized the problem when becoming "very emotional and kind of short-fused with my loved ones at home."

"I had to have that moment where I just cried. I had to. I had to take those 10 minutes just to feel sorry for myself and acknowledge what was happening," said Raymond. "I didn't allow myself to feel my feelings because I kept thinking someone else has it worse than me."

Simple things such as feeling the fresh air press against her face during a work break are enough to give her a boost to get through the rest of her day, she said.

Once her shift is finished, that's where she tries to leave the stress and burden of the COVID pandemic inside the walls of the Prince Road facility in Windsor's west end. Raymond said that gives her time to go boating or riding her motorcycle in nice weather or work out — all with a clearer, positive focus on her well-being.

New research suggests growing numbers of health-care workers are facing mental health strains.

A recent study from the University of Regina surveyed 3,000 health care workers and found more were struggling now compared to the beginning of the pandemic. Roughly 23 per cent of respondents said they were likely struggling with mental health concerns in November, compared with 12 per cent in May 2020. 

Although Chantal Khoury said her medical training prepared her for pandemic situations, the "unpredictability" of COVID-19 made it even more difficult.

Khoury is an anesthesia assistant at Windsor Regional Hospital's Ouellette campus. She's most busy when we're not in lockdown and all surgeries are permitted, as she spends most of her time in the operating room.

"It's been very, very challenging," said Khoury. "Coming to work and not getting a chance to eat or even have a drink of water is tiring. It's tiring on the body physically and mentally."