Managing Holiday Staff Burnout in Healthcare Practices: How Honesty Builds Stronger Practices
Photo by Branimir Balogović on Unsplash
Here's what nobody says out loud: your winter blues don't just affect you. They ripple through your entire practice.
Every forced smile when you're exhausted. Every "I'm fine" when you're drowning. Every time you push through instead of pausing—your team sees it. Your staff mirrors it. And suddenly, everyone's pretending their way through December while the practice culture slowly fractures.
The Impossible Standard
You can't show up as a better human at work by denying you're human in the first place.
We've built a work culture that expects practice owners and leaders to be impervious to seasonal stress, holiday pressure, and shortened daylight. You're supposed to maintain perfect composure while managing year-end deadlines, patient volume, staff schedules, and your own depleted reserves—all while December throws holiday after holiday at everyone.
This doesn't create resilient practices. It creates brittle ones that crack under the exact conditions every December brings.
The Second Week of December
Dr. Cheri runs an ObGyn practice. Last December, she noticed herself snapping at her front desk coordinator over a scheduling mix-up—something she'd normally handle calmly. The coordinator apologized profusely, then Dr. Cheri heard her in the break room telling another staff member, "I can't do anything right lately."
That moment stopped Dr. Cheri cold.
She called a quick team huddle. "I need to say something. I'm running on empty right now. December stresses me out. I'm managing family obligations, year-end financials, and I just took my frustration out on you over something minor. I'm sorry. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one feeling stretched thin."
The relief in the room was visible.
Her billing specialist admitted she'd been crying in her car before work. Her lead Ob/Gyn shared that his anxiety medication needed adjusting but he felt guilty taking time off for an appointment. Her newest hire—who doesn't celebrate Christmas—confessed she felt invisible during all the "holiday cheer" while managing her own family commitments.
None of them were failing. They were all drowning separately, each convinced they were the only one struggling.
The Iceberg Effect
Think about what happens when you see the tip of an iceberg. You know intellectually that most of the mass sits below the surface—but you respond to what you can see.
Your practice works the same way in December. You see surface behaviors: missed deadlines, short tempers, mistakes that don't usually happen. But beneath the surface? Seasonal depression from darker days. Financial anxiety from holiday expenses. Grief around family loss that intensifies during "celebratory" seasons. Caregiving exhaustion. The pressure to participate in festivities that don't align with your traditions or energy level.
When you only address the visible behaviors without acknowledging what sits beneath, you're asking people to white-knuckle their way through. And that works—until it doesn't.
Why This Matters Now
You have the entire month of December ahead—with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, New Year's, and the cultural weight of "year-end reflection" all compressed into four weeks. You can keep pretending you're all fine, or you can name what's real and give everyone permission to be human while still meeting your professional responsibilities.
This isn't soft. This is strategic.
When you acknowledge difficulty, you reduce shame. When you reduce shame, people ask for help sooner. When people ask for help sooner, small problems don't become crises.
Your winter blues affect your judgment, your patience, your ability to see solutions clearly. Ignoring this fact doesn't make you stronger—it makes you less effective.
Questions to Ask Yourself This Month
Set a reminder to check in with these questions weekly throughout December. Your answers will shift as the month progresses—that's the point.
About your current state:
What drains my energy most right now?
Which activities or people restore me, even slightly?
Where do I expect myself to be superhuman instead of human?
About your patterns:
When does my patience run thinnest?
What warning signs tell me I'm reaching my limit?
What do I need to ask for that I haven't asked for yet?
About your impact:
How does my stress affect the people around me?
What behaviors do I model when I'm overwhelmed?
Where can I show vulnerability without compromising my boundaries?
About your choices:
What am I doing out of obligation rather than genuine commitment?
Which tasks can wait until January when I'll think more clearly?
What would help me most right now—and who can I ask?
We Built a Tool for This
Most practice owners don't realize where their energy actually goes until they track it. You think you know what drains you, but the data often surprises you.
Our Energy Audit Workbook guides you through a five-day assessment of what depletes your reserves and what restores them. You'll identify:
Which tasks consume energy disproportionate to their value
Which activities or people restore you, even marginally
Where you're attempting to push through instead of delegate, automate, or eliminate
Patterns in when your capacity drops and what triggers it
This isn't about optimization or productivity hacks. This is about seeing clearly where you're hemorrhaging energy so you can make different choices before you hit empty.
When you understand your own patterns, you can help your team understand their own goals. You can build schedules that account for reality instead of ideal scenarios. You can intervene before people burn out instead of after.
Your Next Move
Download the Energy Audit Workbook. Spend five days tracking your energy honestly. Share what you learn with your team. Create one conversation about what everyone experiences instead of what you all pretend to experience. Download your copy.
The winter blues will affect your practice whether you acknowledge them or not. The only question is whether you'll navigate them together or suffer them alone.
Do you have sufficient support? At Tracy Cherpeski International and Thriving Practice Community, we're committed to supporting independent healthcare practice owners in achieving extraordinary success without sacrificing well-being. Whether through educational resources like this blog, community support, or personalized guidance, we're here to help you on your journey to a more balanced, fulfilling career in healthcare practice ownership. Let’s talk! Click here to schedule your complimentary practice assessment strategy session.
About the Author
Residing in the City of Oaks, Miranda Dorta is a creative storyteller and operations guru. Miranda graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2020 with a B.F.A in Writing and concentrations in Creative Writing and Fashion Journalism. Miranda has a skilled history working in public relations, publishing, retail management, operations, and social strategy.
At Tracy Cherpeski International, Miranda joined the company as an Administrative Assistant in 2021 and now is currently serving as the Manager of Operations and PR as of November of 2022. Miranda has developed a strong expertise in managing the operational aspects while effectively handling public relations and communication strategies.