It’s no surprise that taking social breaks help nurses cope with their work.
The study employed an ethnographic methodology and found that the morning tea break ritual provided time, space and an environment where nurses can ventilate their feelings and gain each other’s support. Thus, the morning tea break ritual has positive contribution to nurses’ work and both nurses and patients are the beneficiaries of this ritual act.
Unfortunately the study is behind a pay wall, but just reading the abstract we can deduce that breaks are vital and a necessary part of coping with jobs.
We all have mental images of the highly-chatty and unproductive social butterfly. Yet maybe we uber-productites could take a page or two out the social handbook. Some of you have relayed that working at home has affected your personality, especially in terms of social interactions.
So my question to you is: What are you doing during your day to unwind and talk to someone? Not via Twitter or IM, but rather real face-to-face contact with a human being. I’m curious to see how many of us actually take a daily break to talk to a real person. Discuss! 🙂