Finding out you have skin cancer is not easy. Likewise, being the doctor who has to share that news over and over again with many patients a day is hard, too. To help handle the tough days, Dr. Whitney Hovenic and her staff at Skin Cancer and Dermatology Institute are working to lift people up with colorful, positive, encouraging, bright bracelets. If there is downtime at the office, the staff strings together beautiful bracelets with messages like “YOU CAN DO IT”, “BE BRAVE”, or “YOU’RE AWESOME!” They’ve literally made hundreds of them. Along with passing them out to patients, the staff also wears them as a reminder that they’re brave too, especially on hard days. Physician burnout is a serious issue. The American Medical Association says long-term stress can lead to emotional exhaustion, feeling detached or having a reduced sense of accomplishment. Experts say one way to help is to boost morale and the hope is these colorful bracelets can help do that. But it takes a lot of time and people to crank out hundreds of bracelets. So now, Dr. Hovenic’s office is getting help all around town with groups wanting to make Beads of Brightness — including Bishop Manogue Catholic High School. Manogue student, Olivia Escobar helped bring the new club to campus. She says, “The mission of our club is to spread kindness and encouragement to healthcare professionals through handmade bracelets and other acts of appreciation.” The group plans to deliver the bracelets to local hospitals and clinics. “Anyone is welcome to join or come hang out, make bracelets and be part of something meaningful.” If you would like to be part of this new club, help collect supplies and work on scheduling meetings and deliveries, contact Ms. Scholl.
