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!

[Davey Do]

Have Nurse said:

For me, I go to my office, shut the door and pray, not a long time, just few minutes. I keep my Bible in my drawer. Sometimes I read the Psalms. I also drink some water because dehydrated cells get sleepy and if I am tired, I can get crabbier faster. I also exercise at home so that helps too. I keep a bottle of essential oils in Lavender. That fragrance is relaxing.

Quiet alone time, praying, reading spiritual material, water, and lavender essential oil!

Five stress relievers can't be wrong!

Your card, ma'am:

[FutureICUNurse2018]

I work in a busy SNF with rehab, long-term care and hospice patients and it can be stressful a lot of the time... well, most of the time.

Thing is, there's so much to do that there's usually not a whole lot of time to focus on the stress, you just have to keep going. In a way, that's a good thing. If I'm having a particularly bad day, I do try and make sure that I get to my break sooner rather than later. Also, depending on who my coworkers are, I may vent to someone if a resident or family member is being difficult. But, as I said, there's usually too much going on at work to focus on the stress. Rather, when I get home, I try and do something to relax myself, whether it is a favorite food, TV show, or simply getting some extra sleep. I also try and make sure on my days off I do something that I enjoy.

[audreysmagic, RN]

pixierose said:

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

I may or may not have done a few touchdown dances in the breakroom when discharging some challenging patients...and I've never hesitated to dance in front of them for pure silliness. As mentioned, definitely depends on the patient. But I primarily do peds/adolescent when I'm back on the floors, so it helps add to the "goofy but approachable adult" persona I try to maintain...

[Davey Do]

Have Nurse said:

Artist Nurse. Alright!!!! ?

Thank you, Have Nurse

At work, I'm a "Nurse First", but when I'm not working, I like to paraphrase John Denver:

[HiddenAngels]

These are some really good stress relievers!

When I get stressed at work, I usually take 5, grab my phone and headphones and go to a lounge, empty rrom, etc and play one of my fav upbeat songs. When I get back, the melody is stuck in my head and I feel good. I'm smiling, the patients are smiling, coworkers smiling... and the band just keeps on playing..... All the stress seems so small

[Davey Do]

audreysmagic said:

I may or may not have done a few touchdown dances in the breakroom when discharging some challenging patients...and I've never hesitated to dance in front of them for pure silliness.

If you did a touchdown dance on me Audrey Smagic, it might make me fell less stressed...

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

K+MgSO4 said:

I am wayyyy to fond of eating my feelings. I tend to go for cheese or chocolate. I also grind/ clench my teeth at night. I am avoiding the dentist lately. I also hold stress in my shoulders and lower back (I am a mess!!)

We are doing a biggest loser competition at work which I am in the lead with so far.

so last night when I got thrown a massive curveball at work I was very proud that I went got take out but instead of a carb heavy gourmet burger and fries I got a plate of green beans to start and then some dumplings. I then used my spiky ball for my shoulders.....but I am not perfect and didn't use my mouthgaurd

I can relate. I used to have a terrible habit of clenching my teeth whenever I was stressed, pretty much all the time. I also had migraines and I'm sure it was related to TMJ from said bad habit. Finally things got so bad I spent $1,000 on botox and voila it cured the clenching habit immediately! Unfortunately it only got rid of the migraines for a month so I never did it again.

I highly recommend getting a massage to deal with shoulder and back stress. They are wonderful, along with a hot bubble bath or a hot tub soak if you have one!

Years ago I remember one fun night where we were playing "water guns" squirting saline flushes at each other to blow off steam!

[Davey Do]

HiddenAngels said:

When I get stressed at work, I usually take 5, grab my phone and headphones and go to a lounge, empty room, etc and play one of my fav upbeat songs.

Dancing is a great aerobic exercise stress reliever!

When you take 5, does 5 dance with you?

That's nice.

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

I see a therapist and a psychiatrist.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

Have Nurse said:

For me, I go to my office, shut the door and pray, not a long time, just few minutes. I keep my Bible in my drawer. Sometimes I read the Psalms. I also drink some water because dehydrated cells get sleepy and if I am tired, I can get crabbier faster. I also exercise at home so that helps too. I keep a bottle of essential oils in Lavender. That fragrance is relaxing.

I pray before work begging for a good night and to stay calm when stressed and to get along with my patients, their families and fellow staff and supervisors. But when the **** hits the fan I usually forget to pray. I find a patient's anger or anxiety wears on me and then I just count down the hours till I can clock out. I wish we had valium aerosal dispensers for both the patients and the staff. lol

I love jasmine and orange oil, sometimes I imbibe on some orange aromatherapy compliments of the hospital! lol I love flowers and keep them around to look at whenever a patient leaves some for the staff. Also I like to listen to music.

Sweets and soda are my downfall, but when I'm stressed I totally lose my appetite until I clock out, go home, eat breakfast and go to sleep, bad habit I know.

I once made a self hypnosis video that really helped me overcome my anxiety over sheath pulls. I used to dread them thanks to a few bad experiences in the beginning. They're not my favorite thing, but I can handle them when I have to.

I love listening to flutes, especially Asian bamboo flute music, very relaxing. You can find all sorts of meditation music and hypnosis videos on youtube. They are worth a try.

[Davey Do]

brandy1017 said:

Years ago I remember one fun night where we were playing "water guns" squirting saline flushes at each other to blow off steam!

Those type of workplace stress relieving games are usually spontaneous and the contagion of fun spreads rapidly.

There's a relatively long hallway that connects the backs of the adult and adolescent psych nurses stations. One night, while working adult psych, I rolled a little can of shaving cream down the hallway in an attempt to hit the feet of the adolescent nurse. She returned the can of shaving cream and it went between my legs, initiating the game of "Goaling with Shaving Cream"!

[Davey Do]

FutureICUNurse2018 said:

I work in a busy SNF with rehab, long-term care and hospice patients and it can be stressful a lot of the time... well, most of the time.

Thing is, there's so much to do that there's usually not a whole lot of time to focus on the stress, you just have to keep going. In a way, that's a good thing.

I'll say!

The ability to focus and stay on task in order to deal with stress is admirable is admirable, FICUN!

And you mentioned extra sleep. Oh sleep! I can gracefully deal with most anything feeling well rested. Last weekend, I got only about four hours sleep on my second 12 hour shift and was feeling not-so-up-to-par and it was a stressful shift with admissions and behaviors. I was very pleased with myself that I never lost my cool and handled the situations well.

I got about 7 1/2 hours after that shift and felt great! The next shift was quiet with no admissions. Hmm!