Montreal area nurses on Sunday took part in exercises that are part of promoting good mental and physical health. The frontline worker experienced an exhausting year while trying to treat the COVID-19 patients.
The Sunday’s exercise was a 52 kilometers race. According to Gulin Yilmaz, exercise has a lot of emotional and spiritual benefits. Yilmaz adds that some exercise is good to ensure one stays mentally strong.
Yilmaz worked on the MUHC’s COVID-19 ward, she recalls those days the healthcare professionals worked for long trying to learn how to treat the virus.
“At night shift, I was running at 3 a.m. around the hospital just to release that energy that accumulated.”
Yilmaz noted that the exercise made a big difference.
“When you exercise, you reconnect to yourself, so you’re able to put things in perspective. It gives energy, physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
Yilmaz and colleagues run 52 kilometers and stopped in nine hospitals and three CHSLDs to encourage healthcare workers and remind them of the importance of maintaining their mental health through exercises.
Melanie Myrand, a nurse, noted the running is hard, but when you start, it becomes easy. It helps one focus on how the day was like.
“You think when you go on your run, you’re just going to be focusing on how terrible the day was, but really, that doesn’t happen. I find you come away with more energy.”
