Resiliency keeps your nursing staff on the job. It staves off stress, illness, and burnout. A resilient nursing staff builds strong teams able to respond to the demands of this noble profession through long hours, patient and family needs, and… aching backs! Check out these tips to share with your nursing staff to keep them resilient and strong.
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Resiliency keeps your nursing staff on the job. It staves off stress, illness, and burnout. A resilient nursing staff builds strong teams able to respond to the demands of this noble profession through long hours, patient and family needs, and... aching backs!
Check out these tips to share with your nursing staff to keep them resilient and strong:
Nurture with Nature
On those shifts where breaks are few or nonexistent, taking 30 seconds to get some fresh air, even if it's just sticking your head out the door to remind yourself that there is a "world out there" and breathing in some fresh air, can reset your mood and lower the stress response -- meaning lowering your heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels.
Pack Your Lunch With Quick Snacks
If you are able to take a full lunch break - GREAT! But have a snack-type lunch on hand just in case. A few grapes, apple slices or a banana, an organic juice box, crackers, cheese, and nuts allow you to eat quickly and nutritiously as well, in order to get you through your shift. Also pack your locker with quick snacks just in case you do not have time to pack a lunch -- a small jar of a nut butter, crackers, nuts, dried fruit, juice boxes, and granola bars can get you through a shift easily enough. Just don't forget to restock your stash!
Focus on the Patient in Front of You
This is a case of easier said than done, unfortunately. Nurses often have overwhelming patient loads, but only one patient can be tended to at a time. Focusing all your energy on the patient in front of you prevents mistakes and often helps you catch things that you might miss if your mind is on your other patient(s), rather than the one in front of you. Mistakes are costly to nurses not only in their self-confidence in their ability to do the job, but also in their co-workers' confidence to be a strong and trustworthy team member. Give yourself the benefit of full focus. The next patient will still be there when you are finished with the one in front of you.
Keep a Reminder of Joy in Your Pocket or Locker
Some nurses decorate their lockers with pictures of their children or pets. One nurse I knew kept a small seashell in her pocket that her young son had picked up on their last vacation. Another sometimes brought her lunch in a Barbie lunchbox because her daughter packed it for her. A small touchstone of a reminder of the joy in your life can alleviate stress and bring a smile to your face and heart to power your through some tough shift hours.
As a Nurse Manager, you can.....
Plan Some Fun Outings
Great teams do not limit bonding to work alone. Great teams can bond over dinner and a movie, ice skating, hiking, the beach, and all sorts of other activities. You get to see your co-workers in a whole new light and some regular clothes. How many times have you run into a co-worker outside of work and almost not recognized them without their scrubs on? One guideline to follow during the outing: keep the shop talk to a minimum. We are never not nurses, but reserve the outing time as bonding and fun time. After all, you're not clocked in for work.
Educate New Nurses on Self-care Strategies
New nurses may believe that in order to be a good nurse they must give 110% of themselves at all times and forget that nursing is not a perfect profession. New nurses may be at greater risk for making mistakes if they feel stressed and are not taking care of their needs while also caring for patients. Although the media sometimes portrays nurses as SUPERHEROES (but of course!), we are human with human needs of rest, relaxation, and forgiveness of ourselves when we make a mistake. And one of the best self-care strategy tools a new nurse can have is not holding herself/himself to an impossible standard of perfection.
I hope you have enjoyed these tips and can put some of them to use on your nursing unit. What other tips have you employed that have been successful with your nursing team?
