6 Ways Healthcare Students Can Maintain Their Health
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle when you’re a student can be tough—even more so if you’re a student training to enter the healthcare industry. The passion that most students have for their careers means they tend to focus a lot on completing and excelling in their respective programs, often at the expense of their health and wellness.
As a healthcare student, you’ll need to ensure that you’re able to practice what you’re learning and ultimately, preaching. Without your health, you cannot do the work you’re training for, so we’ve gathered these top tips to guide students on how they can best maintain their wellness throughout their post-secondary education.
1. Get Enough Sleep
The pressure of keeping up with your schoolwork and excelling across every subject when you’re a student can be immense. There may be sleepless nights studying and learning, and students sometimes fail to pay attention to how much rest they’re getting. However, sleep plays a role in learning and memory—as well as mood, energy levels, and judgment, so make an effort to get as much shut-eye as you can.
How much sleep is needed varies from person to person, but generally, the goal is to get at least 6–7 hours a night to ensure that you wake up feeling rested, refreshed, and ready to face the day.
2. Don’t Skip Meals
As a healthcare student, your schedule can get really busy. Between running to and from classes and cramming for tests, it’s very easy to end up skipping meals. Maintaining a regular eating schedule, however, has a lot of health benefits, especially for healthcare students who follow tough schedules. Eating regular, balanced meals means you’re able to maintain stable blood sugar levels so you have sufficient energy to power through the day.
Eating regularly also helps to curb hunger levels and a compulsion to snack, which helps minimize cravings for junk food.
3. Steer Clear of Junk Food
Go out of your way to eat healthy food. Junk and fast food may be easy, tasty, and convenient, but soon your energy level will crash, leaving you sluggish and struggling to focus.
Be mindful of what you eat. As a student, your energy needs to stay up. Chugging one energy drink after another or consuming unhealthy snacks will not benefit your health and well-being. Fruits, vegetables, and protein are all needed to support brain function, and your physical health overall.
4. Make An Effort to Exercise
It’s difficult to maintain a regular workout schedule when you’re also trying to keep up with classes and training, so be sure to get exercise whenever you can. Exercise improves blood circulation to the brain, supporting memory and cognition as well as long-term brain health. Walk to and from your classes instead of driving, take the stairs whenever you can, stretch and participate in any physical activity you enjoy.
5. Learn How to Manage Your Time
Managing your time as a healthcare student can be tough. You’re juggling classes, practical training, studying, a social life, and getting enough personal time. It seems there isn’t enough time for everything you need or want to do. This is where learning how to manage your time wisely comes in. Keep yourself organized so that you minimize preventable and unnecessary stress and avoid putting too much on your plate so you don’t end up being overwhelmed.
6. Unplug
Healthcare students are expected to be busy, after all, you’re building meaningful careers that require you to think on your feet and where people’s lives are literally in your hands. No matter how busy and intense it gets during your training, however, carve time out from your intense schedule to rest and regroup.
It’s important to find balance as you complete your training so that you can do well academically while maintaining physical and mental health. Give yourself time to pause and rest. If social gatherings are starting to take a toll, cut back on social engagements to focus on getting some “me time.” This is also important for minimizing the impact of stress on your health.
Between attending your classes, getting practical field experience, possibly even a job and maintaining a healthy social life, it’s easy for healthcare students to take on more than they can handle. It’s important to recognize when you’ve piled too much on your plate so you can take a step back and reassess which areas you need a break from.
These simple, actionable steps can help reduce the pressure most healthcare students face to keep their health in top shape.
If you’re interested in learning more about what healthcare programs are available through HCI, visit our website today.
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