Nurses need an outlet to manage stress

[Pride/hardwork17]

To all my colleagues out there: Please take care of yourselves. We nurses are precious beings who need as much care and attention as anyone else. If you see a coworker "drowning":wacky: or feeling exhausted:down:, give her/him a hand, give encouragement:up: and be supportive. We need to learn to work together and be supportive of each other. Our work is very hard and only "we nurses" know what we do everyday. Meditate, pray, exercise, take a walk, talk on the phone, do something that relaxes you and makes you happy:)

[dt70]

For a moment I thought you were going to suggest creating a fight club.

[Curious1alwys, BSN, RN]

Yes, go to your doctor. Maybe you will get lucky and he/she will give you meds that make you feel even worse! I know I will get flamed for that one, but BTDT.. Changing jobs seems like a better option! :)

[middleagednurse]

Sometimes its the job. Sometimes its the person. Depression is an actual illness.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Sometimes it's the job AND the person. And yes, depression and anxiety are real illnesses that deserve treatment.

[firstinfamily, RN]

Hey, we are all in this together!!! For those going through menopause I found a new way of dealing with hot flashes that I thought was very therapeutic. The writer said she would envision her hot flash as a color and it would grow darker as her hot flash reached its peak, then she would envision a lighter shade or cooler color to help her hot flash dissipate. I have been trying this and I think it is helping. I believe it is stimulating the autonomic nerve system, so like meditation, me thinking of a popsicle helps to shorten my hot flash!!! hang in there everyone!!

[firstinfamily, RN]

We are in the business of serving the public. The public can be very demanding, add that on top of patients who are really sick, MDs who are really demanding, computer systems that are so time oriented you do not have the time to touch your patients etc. It is a very stressful environment. There is some form of stress in any area of nursing. You can check and see if the health insurance at your facility offers any counseling services free of charge for employees. Form a support group, have an established "liaison nurse" who will listen. Perhaps there is a psychologist available to staff who is willing to donate time as a sounding board etc. I always wanted a sound-proof room that staff could go to and just scream if they wanted to get the frustration out! Learn some meditation techniques that you can use at work, using imagery, deep breathing when things are really getting to you helps to alleviate the stress. Is there something you can do to prevent the stress from occurring? Are you over-reacting to something or responding to something that really is not that important?? Analyze what time of day it is when you are feeling stressed out, what exactly is occurring at that time? Have you developed a conditioned response at a certain time of day?? When you can break it down it does become more manageable and then you can address the real issues. Healthcare is very demanding and you are most likely being pulled in multiple directions at once. Is it a control issue in that you do not have control over what is occurring and need to feel more secure in the environment you are employed?? Medications can help, but the symptoms may get more pronounced or continue even with medication. You have to have control over YOUR response to the environment in which you work. Learn to take things one at a time, focus, focus, focus, take deep breaths and continue on. Make sure you are doing some fun stuff outside of work. I don't think any of us do this enough. You should set aside time to do some of the things you enjoy doing, also it has been proven that regular exercise helps to lower stress. All of us could use a good work out!! Continue in the right direction and you will be successful in whatever you do!!