Are you ready to move more, feel good and win a big prize?

Be one of the first to join our STEP Campaign Pilot starting October 1 through December 31, 2025.

We have two categories so everyone can participate! 

• Do you move around a lot at work (MDs, RNs, MAs, etc.)? -> Clinical

• Does your job require you to be at your desk more? (Access, Behavioral Health, Business, etc.) -> Administrative 

Just pick the group that best matches your daily work routine. Prizes will be awarded in January for each category! 

How to Participate:

1. Track your steps using any fitness app or device.

2. Use the attached Activity Conversion Chart to convert non-step activities (like yoga, cycling, or weightlifting) into step equivalents.

3. Record your daily totals.  You may want to use the premade excel tracker that calculates your totals,  A sample one is attached. 

3. Enter the minutes spent doing the activity in the Minutes column (example: Jogging – 30 minutes)

3. Enter the # of steps you tracked using your fitness tracker 

3. Everything else will calculate for you! 

4. Submit your monthly step totals or completed log to us through the quick and easy form (October’s linked below) that we will send this out at the end of each month to give you a reminder to submit your steps! 

4. October Submission

Please reach out to Kathy Emans or Caddo Wright with any questions. We will be sharing updates each month! 

Prevention begins with understanding the warning signs to look for in someone who may be suicidal. With the HEART acronym, we hope to help you easily remember these signs.

Visit NPSAday.org to learn more.

VITAL SIGN 1

Health

• Increasing the use of medications and/or alcohol or illicit drugs
• Talking about wanting to hurt themselves or die

VITAL SIGN 2

Emotions

• Experiencing extreme mood swings
• Feeling hopeless or having no purpose

VITAL SIGN 3

Attitude

• Being negative about professional and personal life
• Having inappropriate outbursts of anger or sadness

VITAL SIGN 4

Relationships

• Withdrawing or isolating themselves from family, friends and coworkers
• Talking about being a burden to others

VITAL SIGN 5

Temperament

• Withdrawing or isolating themselves from family, friends and coworkers
• Talking about being a burden to others

This information is intended for awareness-building and informational purposes only.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

Adapted from The Physician’s Foundation flyer:

This month let’s look at Self-Care and why it is important as a health care provider.  We all know that working in the health care field is stressful. A 2022 study conducted in Minnesota found that 70% of frontline healthcare workers experienced some level of depression and 99.2% reported high levels of stress.

It’s easy to lose focus on self-care with our busy lives.  But an absence of self-care can harm us both physically and emotionally, often resulting in struggles with compassion fatigue and professional burnout.  

But we CAN prevent this from occurring. Here are some ideas for self-care.   Try a few and see if they help.

Set Boundaries

Try saying NO.  Especially to protect family and alone time. Don’t get involved in other people’s drama

Practice Mindfulness 

• Try a meditation video,
• Write in a journal
• Practice breathing skills
• Sit in quiet for a few moments

Maintain a Work Life balance

• Limit how much work you take home
• Connect with family and friends during outside work time
• Use your paid leave time
• Take a lunch break – leave your desk, talk with co-workers, move around, sit in a quiet area

Take Care of yourself

• Hydrate
• Eat – don’t be Hangry
• Exercise
• Sleep

Disconnect

• Put down your phone, especially one hour before bedtime
• Don’t check work emails after hours
• Reduce time spent on social media

If so, have you considered taking a break from your phone as well?  Can you really disconnect from work while on vacation?

According to a 2024 JAMA study of 3024 physicians, 70% of doctors work during a typical vacation day and around a third spend at least 30 minutes per vacation day on work-related correspondence.

If this feels familiar, take a moment to reference this article from Medscape for tips to help you unplug.  

And….its not just not just for physicians!  Everyone can benefit from a break from our phones and social media.   According to the Mayo Clinic, slimming screen time frees up more time to connect with family and friends – which can help ward off symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety. 

Links

• Always On Call: Why You Can’t Unplug and How You Finally Can
• 5 ways slimming screen time is good for your health

As we approach this holiday season, let’s take a moment to reflect on the importance of Gratitude in Life.

Gratitude is strongly related to wellbeing.  

Some benefits of gratitude can be better sleep, better immunity, decreased stress, lower blood pressure, stronger relationships and greater life satisfaction.

Practicing gratitude places a focus on the present, thus helping to magnify positive emotions.

And Gratitude can have a domino effect -If a person experiences gratitude, they are more likely to reciprocate in the future.

Here are some ideas, ways to practice gratitude.    

• Observe the moment      
• Create Gratitude Rituals
• Write it down 
• Give Thanks
• Savor the Moment

What are you grateful for this year?

Now that the weather is cooling down, let’s take a quick moment to enjoy the benefits of nature.

Did you know that exposure to nature can help to regulate our sympathetic nervous system? 

Even a quick 5-minute walk or work break outside can improve our mental focus and moods.

Take a walk today, eat lunch outside, enjoy a quick break in the sunshine.  Try a new outdoor activity like cycling, pickle ball, go for a hike in our amazing state parks.  It really can make a difference!

Try it!

Learn more about how nature can help to reduce stress and increase happiness:

• The mental health benefits of nature: Spending time outdoors to refresh your mind
• Nurtured by nature
• A 20-minute nature break relieves stress