Dealing with Stress at Work

[Davey Do]

Davey Do said:

When stressed at work, I have been known to go curl up in a corner, get into a fetal position, stick my thumb in my mouth, cry loudly, and soil myself.

I'm only kidding.

I don't really soil myself!

There have been several threads and articles on this subject and I'd like this thread to be an interactive one on methods we've employed that have worked for us!

[Buckeye.nurse]

Funny you asked Davey Do!!

[Davey Do]

[AJJKRN]

I'm generally a good natured person so with added or even intense stress I tend to laugh and joke. If I get stressed enough to show anger and cry...it's truly all gone to hell and a handbasket then folks!

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

My work BFF and I tend to eat our feelings to cope. Usually by 2100 during a messed-up shift we will look at the other and know to bring out the takeout menus.

Also, I chew a LOT of gum while documenting. Idk why. I guess it beats smoking (not sure my teeth agree, although I usually stick to sugar-free).

Also, nursing memes. We trade em back and forth all night and the worse the shift becomes, the funnier they get.

[Davey Do]

AJJKRN said:

I'm generally a good natured person so with added or even intense stress I tend to laugh and joke. If I get stressed enough to show anger and cry...it's truly all gone to hell and a handbasket then folks!

T-T-T-Then t-t-t-t-that's all folks?!

It is we who are in control of, and make the decision on, how we react to situations.

Sure, there are numerous situations in our jobs where laughing and joking would not be appropriate reactions. However, we sometimes take things too seriously and get caught up in negativity.

Negativity begets negativity, is contagious, and a difficult force to halt. We know negativity is no good for anyone, and if we are the sower of the seed, we are not going to feel very good about ourselves.

Most situations we don't feel good about are the ones where we didn't act or react in a beneficial manner. We feel good about situations where all hell broke loose (or perhaps just a portion of hell broke loose) and we handled the situation well.

Handling the situation well doesn't always mean we did everything perfectly. Handling the situation well means we did nothing to make the situation's results come out leaving a bad taste in our mouths.

If we can lessen stress and lighten the load through, for example, humor, we can feel good, or at least better about, the stressful situation.

BTW, AJJKRN, did you know there are no images of Marvin Martian smiling?

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

There was one week were every day at 2pm I would go and buy a small cup of coffee and headed outside for 5-7 minutes and just breathed in fresh air.

Typically I just will take a walk when I am feeling overwhelmed, and will take the long way to a destination, meaning, walking in stairwells instead of elevator, etc.

[Davey Do]

NightNerd said:

My work BFF and I tend to eat our feelings to cope. Usually by 2100 during a messed-up shift we will look at the other and know to bring out the takeout menus.

Also, I chew a LOT of gum while documenting. Idk why. I guess it beats smoking (not sure my teeth agree, although I usually stick to sugar-free).

Also, nursing memes. We trade em back and forth all night and the worse the shift becomes, the funnier they get.

Your coping mechanisms appear to be positive ones there, NightNerd! As long as the food consumption is done abstemiously.

Abstemiously- one of the two words in the English language that have all the vowels in order.

My work wife Eleanor chews gum when she's sleepy. She says it helps her to say awake.

I don't think she chews methamphetamine gum.

"the worse the shift gets, the funnier they get" is an interesting phenomena. I find the more bummed out or stressed I am, the funnier my art is.

Gee, that means if I was bummed out or stressed all the time, it might benefit everyone!

I'll have to think about that.

[Crush]

We get some our pts involved in games. Get them up and challenge them to a game of Spades or Rummy. Sometimes a little Farkle or Uno. But that depends on the unit I am on and the kind of pts I have. Bonus is not only are staff destressed but it does wonders for the pts too. I realize where I work is a bit different as we have darn good staffing so we are able to do this once in a while.

If the shift went to heck and I could not destress at work, I crank up my radio on the way home and put on my music extra loud. If I need to cry or cuss, that is my time to do it. Once I am home, I leave any negatives at the doorstep.

[Davey Do]

RNNPICU said:

There was one week were every day at 2pm I would go and buy a small cup of coffee and headed outside for 5-7 minutes and just breathed in fresh air.

Typically I just will take a walk when I am feeling overwhelmed, and will take the long way to a destination, meaning, walking in stairwells instead of elevator, etc.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

Haha the food definitely isn't the best coping mechanism. I'm way too prone to go for sugary treats when stressed out, even though by now I've learned that it doesn't feel good afterward. Not ready to kick the habit, though.

It's hard to think of good coping mechanisms that can be done on the floor, especially when it's a crazy night. Depending on who I work with, I can sometimes convince one or two people to join me in some stretching or standing yoga poses for a few minutes. That helps, but sometimes it's just not realistic.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

Work has been rough lately.

I've been one to break out into ... dance. I suck at dancing. At the nurses station. Entering a (good natured) patients' room. Sometimes the dumbest of twirls when delivering a urine cup makes me, and the patient, smile.

... certainly depends on the patient.

... and I definitely save the touchdown dances for private when those difficult patients go home.