Basic Life Support for Nurses' Mental Health

It’s no surprise that nurses’ mental health is in crisis. We were already short-staffed, overworked, underpaid, and emotionally stressed out even before a global pandemic. Treat your mental health as if it’s on life support. You need to breathe and focus on living in the moment. Getting through the day to day. When we think of basic life support for our patients, it’s the ABCs. So, let’s do the same here and look at the ABCs of our own mental health life support.

Basic Life Support for Nurses' Mental Health

At the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, employers wanted to help us. Right? That’s what they claimed, anyway. They were providing therapy and someone to talk to. While I’m not dismissing therapy, as it can be helpful and it’s strongly recommended, I’m here to talk about some basic mental health support. Therapy should absolutely be in place if you need it, but when you’re not in your session with your therapist, what are you doing right now to help your mental health? We need to be gentle with ourselves. Treat your mental health as if it’s on life support. You need to breathe and focus on living in the moment. Getting through the day to day. When we think of basic life support for our patients, it’s the ABCs. So, let’s do the same here and look at the ABCs of our own mental health life support.

A - Activity

You’re probably thinking “really, more activity?!”. I get it, we’re already on our feet all shift, running to the point of exhaustion. There are many activities though we can look at.

Running, boxing, swimming, going for a walk in nature, axe throwing, weight-lifting. I’m not saying to try out for America Ninja Warrior, but pick one physical activity that sounds even remotely interesting to you and try it. If you hate it, stop it and try something else. If you have no desire for any of the physical activities, that’s fine. Move on. The lesson here is to explore and see what helps.

Activities don’t have to be exercise in the traditional sense. Pick up a hobby that you’ve always been curious about. Knitting, musical instruments, cooking, dancing, or singing. Check out video games, activity books, board games, or anything that sounds intriguing. The point is to get your mind actively doing something. Is it OK to spend your whole day off getting caught up in playing a video game? YES! Is that healthy to do all the time? Probably not. But again, we’re not talking about normal, healthy habits. We’re talking about your mental health being on life support. Life support isn’t the day-to-day norm. It’s hanging on and getting through.

B - Boundaries

Your family and friends want you to go to all the parties, family functions, weekend get-togethers (Zoom parties included). You feel obligated. Don’t. If you want to, go. If not, don’t. Don’t feel obligated. Set up boundaries around the news on TV, social media, etc. Set boundaries around family and friends that are negative. This is so important for your mental health anyway, but it’s crucial right now. If you’re not at work and something is negatively impacting your mental health, cut it out.

C - Caring

Allow yourself some grace. This is unprecedented territory we’re in. Be gentle with yourself. Allow yourself to eat cookies for dinner and binge a Netflix show. Is that the healthiest option? Not if it’s a regular thing, but again, we’re in crisis here and what we’re dealing with isn’t normal. I’m just using that as an example (but seriously, Netflix and cookies? Can’t go wrong there), but think of anything that makes you feel better.

Do what makes you happy or lets you forget about your work at the hospital. Obviously, within reason. You don’t want to drink to excess or get into unhealthy habits. But you don’t need to feel guilty about binge watching a show, listening to your favorite podcasts, getting lost in a book, or eating your favorite foods.

If you’re able to spend some of your money on yourself, do it! Splurge a little bit for all your hard work. You don’t have to go crazy, but don’t feel guilty for buying something for yourself that you may normally wait until Christmas or your birthday to ask for. Treat yourself to a day at the spa, and get all the extras this time. Plan a weekend getaway.

Unlike BLS for our patients, these ABCs aren’t in any particular order. They are all important and you can look at each of them independently or all together. The idea I’m wanting to get across is to give yourself grace. Be gentle with yourself. Pick something to do for yourself and if you don’t like it, don’t do it. Keep trying until you find something. And, if you like it and want to keep doing it? Do it! Remember that this isn’t forever, even though it feels like it.

What are you doing right now for your mental health? Have you found a new activity? Are you setting boundaries? Are you caring for yourself?
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Nurse Writing Nook

About Nurse Writing Nook, BSN, RN

Joanne Potter BSN, RN (Nurse Writing Nook) is a writer that specializes in health and wellness. She has fifteen years of experience as a Registered Nurse in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Her years working at the bedside and extensive neonatal knowledge enable her to write with a deep understanding of what health providers and parents want from their community.

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Specializes in kids.

Great read, thx!! We all need to remember that self care is GOOD for us!

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Specializes in NICU (neonatal).
33 minutes ago, NutmeggeRN said:

Great read, thx!! We all need to remember that self care is GOOD for us!

Thanks so much! Yes, it really is good for us. And it seems like we hear it all the time, but we just dismiss it and don't realize how crucial it is!

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

All really good advice here! I think that another thing that's important to remember is approaching work with a positive attitude can also help decrease the negative impact. While the work environment is challenging for so many right now, going in with a bad attitude, getting sucked into gossip or constant complaining can make a bad situation worse. When coworkers start to complain I try to make sure that I listen empathetically, but don't feed too much into the negatives. And I try to be as balanced as I can in my responses. I'm not going to be an apologist for management or poor treatment, but piling on with more complaints won't bring anything positive. I don't manage these things all the time. I have been known to have a night swearing and grumbling myself, but trying to minimize those days and focus on doing my best for my patients and their families. 

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Specializes in NICU (neonatal).
21 hours ago, JBMmom said:

All really good advice here!

Thank you!

21 hours ago, JBMmom said:

While the work environment is challenging for so many right now, going in with a bad attitude, getting sucked into gossip or constant complaining can make a bad situation worse.

Spot on! We all have our more challenging shifts, and it's understandable to vent or complain here and there, especially over the last year and a half. But, there are a few nurses (and fortunately it's a fairly small number) that complain no matter what. And being a pod partner with them, it seriously takes a toll and makes the 12+ hours feel like an eternity. A positive attitude, or at least keeping your inner voice inside your head, is definitely important.

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