It hasn’t been an easy two years especially for someone on the frontlines of the pandemic like New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health.
When COVID-19 first arrived in the province in March 2020, Dr. Jennifer Russell thought we would be dealing with it for two or three months but definitely not for a couple of years.
Russell says she has received a lot of support from her national and provincial colleagues in public health across the country.
“Many of us were facing very similar situations in terms of whether it was criticism or stress. So we would share how we were coping and dealing with those things with each other because obviously we were we are all in that unique position.”
Russell says everyone has been dealing with different variations of stress and having strategies to cope is important.
“I think people found themselves in situations, including myself, where you had to up your game. So maybe you had to add something to that complement of coping strategies, whether it was extra counselling or whether it was meditation, etc.”
Russell adds having a good work-life balance has been important for all of us in the last two years along with taking the time to get away from it all and just breathe.
