Spring 1982 - Athletic Training History

himself from the treatment situation: he finds himselfmore often doing busy work. 812 The shuffling of papers is atrap many trainers may fall into, neglecting the needs ofathletes. Withdrawal may become associated with acallous attitude toward athletes, the loss of concern andfeeling for them.With personality change the more extroverted maybecome quiet, resigned, bored, confused, and hopeless inthe situation. He is quick to anger, reacting to situationswith instantaneous irritation. 9The Type A individual is an ideal candidate for burnout.He is characterized by an excessive sense and anxietyabout time and urgency. He is constantly involved withdeadlines, competitively drives himself, and is impatientand compulsive. 1213Reexamination of the SituationThere is no single solution that fits all the burnoutsyndromes. 2 Fortunately the season or year in which thestress is occurring ends, and the athletic trainer naturallyrecharges his batteries by getting away from the hecticroutines of 65-80 + hours/week. This is why for manyathletic trainers life is simply too short to work summercamps, thereby perpetuating their own problems, gettingno break at the end of the year.With the building of stress and resultant anxiety,restructuring of behavior is desirable. Begin byreexamining current attitudes. Much negative stress maybe reduced by the way a situation is viewed. 6 Toparaphrase Epicteus, "nothing is upsetting in itself, it isonly the way it is perceived." An Austrian-Hungarianproverb also expresses this, "Imitate the sundial's ways,count only the pleasant days." Quickly forgetunpleasantries, bear no grudges, as you only punishyourself. 6Analyzing job stress is necessary to relieve the anxietyinvolved. The art of the trainer must not be neglected.Some trainers are so caught up with administrativeduties, the sprained ankle, the fractured fibula, or theknee rehabilitation program that the humanistic approachof athletic training is forgotten. Take the time to beinterested in the staff and athletes as people and not assituations. Simple, brief conversations showing interest inpeople will go a long way toward creating a positiveimpression: personal relationships develop. Listening towhat an individual feels rather than what he says mayhelp to increase patience and tolerance thus reducinganxiety levels.Reexamine daily duties. Whenever possible endeavorto delegate authority and responsibility to other staffmembers and student trainers to lighten the loadsomewhat. Rotate usual functions and tasks within thestaff. 9No athletic trainer ever seems to have enough time.Therefore a re-examination of time spent is valuable. Tryto pace oneself and limit the hours spent at work.Productivity decreases drastically with overwork.Consider rescheduling of hours. Too often an entire staffwill sit around in the morning looking at each other,putting in hours. It seems that some people justify theirexistence by the amount of time put in.Reexamination of occupational goals is necessary insevere cases of burnout. 5 Were the goals realistic,achievable? Was the field entered to help others or,because of a need to be loved by all, for the glory,glamour, of the job? Many beginning trainers only pursueprofessional or college jobs despite the often lower pay,when the real need is at the secondary school level. Ispower and ego, or hero worship a reason for entering thefield? It must be remembered that the person one isworking with is more important that the task. 9It is interesting to note that athletic trainers withoutgood technical skills are recognized as excellent byadministrators, coaches, and athletes simply on the basisof their good interpersonal relationship qualities. Thereverse is often noted also, a highly qualified athletictrainer with the inability to get along with others isregarded as poor. 14 For a successful relationship thetrainer, staff, and athletes must get along professionallyeven though their philosophy differs. The trainer is theone most often who has to take the initiative to work atmaking the relationship successful. Sacrifice of goodathletic health care does not have to be made. In short itfrequently depends on the interpersonal relationshipskills of the athletic trainer to create a positiveatmosphere.Active SolutionsActive searching for solutions to the problems of theBurnout Syndrome are essential. Time must be spentfinding solutions for Burnout; complaining and worryingabout it accomplishes nothing nor does it remove theproblem. Complaining and worrying only reinforces theanger, frustration and despair, and depletes theindividual's already low energy supply. 11Time should be channeled toward prevention olBurnout: an active outside life, proper health habits,restructuring behavior, and analyzing job stress.Prevention requires conscious awareness of potentialboredom, frustrations, and diminishing returns associatedwith the job of an athletic trainer. 9 Prevention must beconsciously emphasized; administrators, coaches, players,and athletic directors all have their limitations.The use of modifiers is one way of defusing a stressfulsituation. A modifier is something that is done to reducethe stress. 13 One of the most effective modifiers of stressis an active outside life. The athletic trainer looks out forhimself by being necessary to others. Hubert Humphreyoften said, "If you have a well and draw from it, it fills; ifyou don't it grows stagnate. You have to learn to giveyourself." But to help others, the individual must have asuccessful outside life, part of his life that is his own. 9 Onthe short-term, it can be as simple as stopping and havinga social visit with the staff on the way home,decompression by talking over recent events. In this way,the job is not taken home at night. Taking the job homecauses one to relive the stresses. 8 Another modifier can bean extended vacation when time permits.Athletic programs are expanding, without thenecessary increase in the number of athletic trainingpositions. Secondary schools often expect full classteaching loads in addition to athletic training duties, thusthe trainer has his time further compromised. Trainersshould seek the time a professional needs to keep up withthe advances in his field and profession by research,teaching, writing, attending conferences and seminars,and the creativity which comes from thinking andreflecting; all excellent modifiers in stress management.Almost no valid research is done by athletic trainers.Most do not have the time, money for research tools, orthe educational background to perform research. And yetwithout valid research the athletic training professioncannot advance. Research would add to hour quality andbe an excellent stress modifier.Henry Ford was once chastised by an efficiency expertregarding an employee who sat around with his feet on hisdesk much of the time. His reply was, "That man once hadan idea that saved us millions of dollars. At that time, Ibelieve his feet were planted right where they are now." 1Flexibility in the job of an athletic trainer is a must"nothing is certain in athletics but uncertainty." Thetrainer who cannot maintain this flexibility is in for agreat deal of stress and anxiety.New behavior is never acquired unless it is practiced. 12The trainer should create a positive perception of his ownself image. Retrain old emotional responses to meetAthletic Training • Spring 1982 39