The coronavirus is still a part of our everyday conversation. We hear about it on the news and it continues to be a point of discussion. Naturally, the pandemic has probably impacted your home and family life.

If you’re a parent, you’re juggling work, full-time parenting, and part-time teaching. Making decisions that affect your work and family life isn’t always easy. Should your kids return to in-person learning (if that’s an option)? How can you help with online education or homeschooling and keep up at work? How are your children going to be affected by all of this stress? 

Stress in a crisis is unavoidable, and it can be challenging to help your children understand what’s happening right now. So, how do you talk to your children about the pandemic?

“Some kids thrive amidst serious challenges, while others are overwhelmed by them,” says Vanessa LoBue, a developmental psychologist and researcher at Rutgers University Newark. “It seems to come down to both support and resilience. Resilient kids don’t have some kind of superpower that helps them persevere while others flounder. It isn’t a trait we’re born with; it’s something that can be fostered.” Here’s how LoBue says you can encourage resilience at home:

1. Allow children to talk – and really listen. It shows that you care,  and acceptance validates their feelings and helps them contextualize issues.
2. Sometimes the answer is allowing kids some degree of autonomy. Trusting them to try things on their own – and even fail – can help them learn to solve problems or deal with anger, disappointment, or other uncomfortable emotions.
3. “Calm breathing” techniques are another tool that can help children control their emotions.

The Mayo Clinic’s website also offers advice and strategies for helping you and your children cope.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, this book written by pediatrician Kelly Fradin, MD, is a useful resource: Parenting in a Pandemic: How to help your family through COVID-19. She dives into the kind of decisions we all have to make about our children. Dr. Fradin writes:  

“You, as a parent, know your children and your family in a way that no one else does. Many times, people love you and have their own strong opinions about the choices you make. When someone questions your decision, remind yourself that they don’t have all the facts. When others make different decisions for their family, remind yourself that they are answering a different question.”

You can read more about her story in an article on KevinMD.  

Nearly every adult is experiencing similar stressors, and we know that healthcare recruiters have had to be incredibly nimble. We’ve highlighted how recruiters, like yourself, have fearlessly risen to the challenge in this recent blog. If you're feeling overwhelmed, we suggest you reach out to a colleague and talk about it! A meaningful conversation can help each of you process the obstacles you're running into, and there just might be a creative solution that helps both of you.

We've pulled together a few other resources to help your recruitment strategy, including how to help you unwind. We hope some of these are helpful! 

1. Read the key takeaways from Doximity’s 2020 Telemedicine Report. If you want to read the full report about all the latest in telemedicine, you can download it here.
2. Experience A Day in the Life of a Doximity Physician Member in just a few short minutes of reading. If you’re curious about what doctors are doing on the Doximity platform, but don’t have the time to ask physicians, we’ve got you covered.
3. Do you like to unwind by going on a walk? Great! Tune into one of these podcasts, and you’ll continue to learn about and be inspired about healthcare and recruiting at large. 
4. Ready to refresh your DocMail subject lines? Take a look at these do’s and don’t do’s from our Client Success Team!
5. Are you feeling burnt out from working from home for so long? We have some tips for how to avoid that work-from-home slump.
6. We’ve also recommended that recruiters (and physicians and everyone else for that matter) try journaling as a way to unwind. We talk more about this idea here.
7. Finally, if your candidates feel overwhelmed, we invite you to read an article we published earlier: How Recruiters Can Offer Hope in the Era of Coronavirus.