This op-ed is by Virginia Reising, DNP, RN, PHNA-BC, CNE, an associate professor and associate chair within Rush University's Department of Community, Systems and Mental Health Nursing, who also serves as chair of APHA’s Education Board.

For many, it feels like the world and work of public health is gray right now. At best, it's a muted Monday morning comic strip, and at worst, a dumpster fire.

Among the setbacks for U.S. public health this year have been firings of federal public health leaders, a fatal shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, a decrease in already-limited funding for prevention initiatives, public distrust in public health and an increase in vaccine-preventable disease.

Our job as public health professionals must be to find the joy.

Hanging in my office is a banner that proclaims, “Joy is the oxygen.” The quote, credited to Gary Haugan, founder of the International Justice Mission, is a shortened form of his response to how workers who support genocide survivors preserve themselves amid emotionally exhausting efforts: “Joy is the oxygen for doing hard things.”

Whether you are a student, a community health worker, a clinician, a researcher, an educator or anything in between, it is imperative you keep going, keep working to improve the health of the community or population you serve.

The risk of burnout and disillusionment is great right now, but so is the need for you and your specific expertise and experience.

Where can you find the joy needed to keep going?

• Gather with friends and colleagues for meaningful conversation. Perhaps at a local coffee shop or in a more formal setting like APHA’s Annual Meeting and Expo, Nov. 2-5, in Washington, D.C.

• Volunteer for a cause you care about. There's something about giving time without being paid that feels refreshing and connects us to our “why?” Why did you pursue public health as a career in the first place?

• Mentor an early-career professional or student. Hearing young people’s novel insights on the current state of things and enthusiasm for the work might help reset your perspective.

• Find a hobby. A hobby does not have to be something you are good at or get paid for. Maybe it's painting, pickleball, bird watching, needlepoint or playing basketball. Anything done solely for fun.

• Celebrate what's working in public health. Overdose deaths declined in 2023, according to the most recent statistics from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Where's the confetti? Preventing even one death is something to celebrate. What successes have you seen in your community recently?

Finding joy is not about toxic positivity and pretending the world is sunshine and butterflies. Joy is a state of mind that allows us to recognize that things are hard, we have an uphill climb in many areas we are working on — and our work is valuable and necessary.

Finding joy will keep us here to face today’s moment with strength and perseverance.

Photo courtesy iStockphoto.