How Can We Better Cope with the Challenges that Nursing Throws at Us?

[SandraEllis]

Nursing and healthcare is one of the most challenging careers on the planet. Not only is physically caring for someone demanding on your body, but remaining detached and yet compassionate is tough on the mind and emotions too. So whether you're working with elderly patients or you're looking after mental health service users, how can we better cope with the challenges that nursing throws at us?

Recognising Stress

When we're taking care of others, we're always looking carefully for signs of problems, but we often neglect ourselves. Recognising signs of stress or depression is the first step to stopping it, and there are lots of ways to combat the loss of confidence. It's widely recognised that nursing is a very high stress occupation, and your workplace should take steps to acknowledge and remedy this: from responding to individuals' concerns about their own stress factors to conducting proper risk assessments and designing and implementing a stress management procedure, your employer or governing body should know that poorly managed workplace stress results in an overstretched and unhappy workforce. On a personal level, make sure you make time outside of work to give yourself adequate self-care: recognise your own needs and attend to them as thoroughly as you can. The RCN has produced a basic guide to managing workplace stress, but make sure you are getting enough support from outside, too.

Training and Qualifications

While as a nurse or health care giver you have the training and qualifications to do your job, refreshing your knowledge and skills will always be good for your confidence and your ability to cope with the difficulties that you are likely to encounter. While there are more general qualifications like QCFs in health and social care, there is also training available in very specific areas, such as dealing with patients suffering from dementia, or end of life care. Training such as this can be useful in learning how to properly physically move patients, for example, or dealing with emotionally challenging behaviours.

Recognising where you may need extra training or advice is crucial, firstly for your development as a good nurse, but also as a coping mechanism too. Losing confidence in your ability to do your job will undermine the way that you cope with its difficulties, so combat it by being reflective and identifying where you may need a boost in knowledge.

Prevent Isolation

Having a support network is extremely important in being able to do your job successfully. This can come from a variety of different places, including colleagues at work, your family and friends, or there may be mentors or coaches available to you. Simply talking through issues can be beneficial in a number of ways. The sharing of problems can help clarify and focus your concerns and put them in a different perspective, making it easier to solve them; plus, co-workers and mentors may often be able to provide practical advice or guidance to help you solve issues. Just talking to a friend will let off some and help you diffuse your emotions and look at the problem objectively.

If finding or establishing a support network is difficult, then forums and sites online such as this one or membership organisations like the Royal College of Nurses can be of help in solving problems and offering encouragement from other nurses and healthcare providers; it's important, though, to talk to the appropriate member of staff if your concerns relate to patient welfare, workplace complaints or fitness to practice, as there will be procedural guidelines on how these issues should be dealt with.