Before your next caregiving crisis you should thoroughly examine this Crisis Planning Worksheet. Next, you should fill in your personal information and strategies for handling the next caregiver crisis. If you are in a crisis this minute, you should go to the last few pages immediately and read the rest later, but soon..
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Evaluating your crisis management style
This is your opportunity to think about you have managed a crisis in the past and to discover your strengths and weaknesses. Once you have looked at your past experiences you can be better prepared and more confident when the next caregiver crisis occurs.
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Think about a time when you handled a difficult situation really well. What did you do that made it easier, and more manageable? Now think of a time when you panicked, mishandled a situation, or when you made the wrong decisions? Who do you think got in the way of your critical thinking?
Struggle is part of the caregiving process. Everyone does it. We are all human. This is why you need to create a plan that can help you get calm, to ask for help, and think more clearly.
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Getting calm
Everyone has a their method to help calm down. For some, it means picking up a phone and calling a friend. For others, it is taking a walk and breathing in some fresh air. Maybe it means taking a few breaths, some waterworks, perhaps prayer, or doing research on the Internet. You will have to contemplate over what has worked for you in the past and helped control your emotions.
Why getting calm matters
When making a decision in a crisis our emotions often prevent us from making a rational decisions. The initial surge of emotion and adrenaline lasts approximately 90 seconds. And with every additional panicky or frightening thought, we fire off 90 more seconds of emotional chaos. If we allow ourselves to slow down for a few minutes then your rational brain can have time to be activated and overcome the emotional surge.
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Here are ideas for what you might need to do before you run out the door:
• Ask someone to watch my kids.
• Arrange for someone to stay with the other person I am caring for.
• Tell my boss I have to leave.
• Have someone come over to drive me since I am still hysterical.
• Pack a bag because I may need to stay overnight at the hospital. (I had a bag that I kept in my trunk filled with what I would need when I had to meet one of my relatives in the emergency room. I made sure I had a sweatshirt, bottled water, snacks, change for the vending machine, a book to read, and a change of clothing.
Follow the link below to discover the full Crisis Planning Worksheet for caregivers.
Read more: http://kindethics.com/2013/02/2938/
