How do you handle the "STRESS"

[Little Panda RN, ASN, RN]

i have read many threads about nurses wanting to leave nursing due to the stress. it could be stress from co-workers, doctors, patients, to much too do and not enough time. i also know nurses who say that if they had to do it again, they would not become nurses. my question is to the nurses out there who have made nursing their career, to the nurses who have just started out, how do you handle the stress. what tips can you share that just might help a fellow nurse or student. i look forward to reading how each and everyone of my fellow nurses "copes" with the "stress".

[floatRN]

My lifesaver has been that my best friend is also a nurse, so I have someone to vent to after a rough day who totally understands where I am coming from. My family is supportive and tries to understand but they have just never been there.

If I am at work and feel myself getting overwhelmed or emotional. I go into the bathroom or even the storage room for a minute or two and just take slow deep breaths until I am calm. I can usually think clearer after that.

I still feel alot of stress and anxiety from nursing. I am curious to see how other people deal with it.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I think stress, like pain, is subjective---it's what the person experiencing it says it is, at the time that it's happening.

A lot of people would think my job as a DON in an assisted living facility is very stressful, and every so often it does get that way. However, the majority of the time, having so much responsibility energizes and fulfills me, because I need to be creative and to exert a fair amount of control over my work environment. When I was a hospital staff nurse, I had ZERO control over my assignments and was treated like a pack mule, which was far more stressful for me than my current situation. Even though I could (at least in theory) leave it all behind me when I clocked out and exited the building, I'd rather take the job home with me every night and weekend---as I do now---than go back to being just another brick in somebody else's wall.

One of the best things about nursing is that there are so many choices within the profession itself; if one type of nursing doesn't suit you, you can try another. I've worked in several different specialties (including postpartum and ICU) and had different levels of responsibility, and this is by far the best fit for me. Who knows, in five years that could change.........and if it does, I'm sure there'll be something else out there for me, because I'm a NURSE!

[Midwest4me]

Generally I try to "roll with it", take a few deep breaths, count to 10..or 20....I take a motorcycle ride if possible after work to relieve stress...or I read..or I get on the computer....or I talk to my husband who's also in the health field and experiences similar stresses....or I change jobs every 2-5 years for a "change of scenery". The latter seems to be the best cure for me!

[ERNP]

I have suffered from occasional bouts of aggrevation. But I don't recall having ongoing work stress.

[anne74]

Avoid flooring nursing (med/surg nursing). That will help a great deal.

[NurseCherlove]

Avoid flooring nursing (med/surg nursing). That will help a great deal.

Amen to that sister!

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

I golf a lot, works for me

[Grace Oz]

good long brisk walks always helped.

ditto what floatrn wrote.

reading books-non nursing related of course!

listening to music.

[muffie, RN]

You get a lot of knowledge. organization and expertise in med-surg if you are just starting out, but move on when you must.Love your job or make yourself happy elsewhere. Politics and idiots are in every institution. You won't get along with everybody. Be positive and happy.Get things off of your chest and leave work at work. Have hobbies and a life outside of nursing.I love candle -lit bubble baths with a cup of chamomile tea. Talk about soaking away the blues/evils!