Cancer

So sorry to hear about you and your mother. I am a cancer survivor myself just after 1 year of working as a rn. I had terrible anxiety about returning to work... And even still dont know if the stress is worth it... It really does effect your health... Maybe try a different avenue of nursing? I went from acute care to visiting nursing but the stress is the same just in other ways..just don't be too hard on yourself. I keep telling myself things will work out the way they are meant to! And I hope the same for you =)

Hello.

Life is life and the world keeps turning. A pause button would be great but unfortunately that is not an option. I just watched a TED TALK on stress and how it affects the body, the results were interesting. When paired with the correct mind set the results of stress were the opposite than what you would think. Patterns of thought is what wears us down, when you think about things and allow anxiety to take over it can be quite damaging.

I am a huge proponent of meditation and yoga. I don't make it to yoga much but I try to meditate daily. Its all about controlling your thoughts and not allowing them to drive your emotions which in turn can take over your body so to speak. You can still experience your thoughts but allow them to pass like a wave that comes up with the tide then washes away. Your feeling lost is due to the lack of control you feel, which is an illusion to begin with.

I wouldn't make any concrete decisions but you can take time off for yourself and step away. Get some perspective and spend sometime with your mom. There are programs in place, like a leave of absence, that allow your to do this. Talk to your HR.

Best of Luck.