How to Overcome the Stress of a Nursing Job
It's hard to imagine a job with more complexity than nursing. Shift work and burdensome responsibilities can take a toll on practitioners, leading to stress on and off the job. The nursing profession recognizes this fact and teaches coping mechanisms in school, but professional suggestions can't replace individual efforts. You're ultimately responsible for managing your stress on the job and at home. Happily, there are many ways to do just that. Choose the ones that best fit your lifestyle.
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Instructions
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Recognize the ways stress affects your physiological and psychological health. According to the India Journal of Palliative Care, stress occurs when there's a disparity between job demands and a nurse's ability to handle them. Ultimately, frustration and exhaustion lead to negativity, emotional meltdowns, problems concentrating and self-doubt. Recognizing the start of this downward spiral can mean the difference between a long career in nursing and one that ends quickly.
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Master the arts of rational thinking, meditation and other mind/body practices known to short-circuit daily stressors triggered by medical staff, patients and bureaucracy. Exercise frequently. Eat healthy meals. Get sufficient sleep. Identify triggers that set off reactions while on duty so you can immediately begin techniques like deep breathing or body stretches to calm mind and body. Continually learn new stress-relieving tools so they're available to help you get through a tough day.
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Stay organized on the job. Keep your paperwork, medical aids, supplies and equipment safely stowed in the same place so patient emergencies don't have you scurrying around looking for necessities you need to handle your responsibilities. Update patient charts and medical records immediately to get them off your "to-do" list. Don't enable colleague's bad behaviors by setting yourself up as the organizational maven, unless that responsibility is part of your job description
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Confront stressors head-on as they arise and then take action immediately. Choose from any of these responses when a stress-inducing incident arises: 1) Distance yourself from the situation to figure out how to best handle it. 2) Ask for support from your fellow nurses to help you use problem-solving techniques. 3) Learn how to reappraise on-the-job stressors to see the positive side of situations.
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Take a common sense approach to your work day to avoid stressful situations. Compromise on work-related issues that become stalemates so everyone can move on quickly. If you can't avoid people who push your buttons, limit the amount of time you spend with them to lessen your discomfort. Learn to say "No" if asked to swap shifts or trade rotations if it's inconvenient. Distinguish between what you must do and what you "should" do. Confront conflict immediately so it doesn't fester.
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Be as tender with yourself as you are with your patients. Manage your expectations. Allow yourself to be human. Never sacrifice yourself in the name of caring for your patients or you'll have nothing left for friends, family or yourself. Control what you can and dismiss the rest. Practice forgiveness to soothe self-induced stress so you can fully enjoy all of the little miracles that come about as a result of your career choice.
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References
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