"Nurse face" = the calm, collected expression that a nurse wears
I am a BSN, graduated Sept, no job yet (but looking hard), 2 years experience in LTC, and right now doing temporary caregiving/sitting work in an LTC (private pay).
I'm working on improving my practice. One aspect I'm working on improving is my "nurse face".
I'm pretty good (I think!?) at keeping nurse face when directly speaking with patients and families. At least, I've only rarely gotten feedback that I look tense while talking to them, and I've gotten a lot of other good feedback about how they feel about the conversation.
It's in the spaces in between - hurrying down hallways, trying to collect my thoughts, interacting with coworkers, working on the computer, untangling IV's, mentally counting what supplies I'll need to come back with, trying to punch meds accurately - that the tension gets into my face. And according to some of my former coworkers, it gets in there pretty good. Almost like I just bit a lemon with my whole face.
I'm trying to notice this more and consciously relax my facial expression, but it would really help me to hear some success stories.
Did you ever have to work on your "nurse face", and what helped it happen for you?
Any help appreciated!