new nurse. STRESSED PLEASE HELP

[90schick]

So, I know the title of my topic for this entry is kind of dramatic. Sorry! I am a fairly new nurse and am having some problems handling stress. Here are some of the things that are

making me feel stressed:

really, really bad staffing

feeling dread at the beginning of the shift to the tune of "what is tonight going to be like,

can I handle this?"

getting calls and texts almost every day I am off asking to come in for extra pay

Now I know that most of these problems I described above are normal at every hospital,

and I knew that going into nursing, but what are some ways that I can decrease some

of the anxiety I feel?

Also, I cannot decide if every hospital is poorly staffed or not. I have a pretty good nurse

to patient ratio and I like my coworkers a lot. My unit is interesting and I am grateful for all that I am learning. However, are staffing, coworkers clashing in personality, and

unprofessional behavior normal everywhere? Or did I pick a bad place to work?

All in all, I am seeking advice for stress management and a perspective on other hospitals to prevent me from becoming burned out too soon.

thanks!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

New nurse = stress! Seriously. It gets better, though.

You need to develop a stress-management plan for yourself, but I'm stating the obvious, aren't I. Here you are asking for help managing your stress! You cannot control the staffing, but you can control how much overtime you work. The more stressed you are, the less you should be working. Learn to say no. "Sorry, I've made plans," is short, sweet and to the point. You don't have to share that your plans are for vegging out in front of the TV with a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

Take care of yourself. Eat well, get plenty of sleep and exercise. (Wish someone had told me that when I was brand new. I should have known, but . . . .) I found that walking was good stress management. I used to walk my dogs when I got home from work -- the more stressed I was, the farther I'd walk them. Two miles was average, but if I was really stressed, I'd keep walking and thinking. (One night I walked them 11 miles and had to call my husband to come pick the dogs up and drive them home because I wore them out! That was an exceptionally stressful day!) I'm recovering from surgery now, but soon I'll be walking again. Other people use their commute to listen to talking books or their favorite music and chill out. Some relax with a hot bath or a glass of wine (or both). Journalling helps, too.

Check and doublecheck every thing at work, but when you go home, leave work at work. That's one of the biggest perks of bedside nursing. At the end of your shift, you hand off to another nurse and go home, leaving work at work.

I'm not sure what you mean by coworkers clashing in personality and unprofessional behavior. YOU aren't the one behaving unprofessionally are you? If not, just let it roll off your back. You can't control how anyone else behaves; all you can control is how you react to it. Liking your coworkers is a huge plus! But if you don't like them, fake it. It makes life a whole lot easier, trust me.

Taking care of yourself is the biggest insurance against burnout, premature or otherwise. Hope this helps!

[Murse1919]

So, I know the title of my topic for this entry is kind of dramatic. Sorry! I am a fairly new nurse and am having some problems handling stress. Here are some of the things that are

making me feel stressed:

really, really bad staffing

feeling dread at the beginning of the shift to the tune of "what is tonight going to be like,

can I handle this?"

getting calls and texts almost every day I am off asking to come in for extra pay

Now I know that most of these problems I described above are normal at every hospital,

and I knew that going into nursing, but what are some ways that I can decrease some

of the anxiety I feel?

Also, I cannot decide if every hospital is poorly staffed or not. I have a pretty good nurse

to patient ratio and I like my coworkers a lot. My unit is interesting and I am grateful for all that I am learning. However, are staffing, coworkers clashing in personality, and

unprofessional behavior normal everywhere? Or did I pick a bad place to work?

All in all, I am seeking advice for stress management and a perspective on other hospitals to prevent me from becoming burned out too soon.

thanks!

Well stress is gonna be something that will go away as you start to feel more comfortable out on the floor. I will say get time management under control and everything else will fall into place. Start a ritual, if I may say, of pretty much having papers the way you want them set up in a way that you know you will be able to follow. The staffing issues is most likely worldwide seeing as my hospital is fully staffed but we still get texts asking if people can come in. The clashing of personalities will happen when you put any number of people in an area and have them work in a high stress environment for 8-12 hours :)

[FutureResearchRN]

That sounds a lot like where I work! It's a stressful job, but hang in there and it'll get better

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

If your employer is struggling to fill 'holes' in the schedule - asking people to come in and paying overtime, it would appear that they are trying to fill staff vacancies and probably trying to hire more staff. This is a much better situation than simply eliminating jobs and increasing the nurse-patient ratio in order to decrease the labor budget.

My advice? Hang in there, because things will get better when they are able to hire and train more staff. In the meantime, establish your own boundaries. You don't have to answer the phone when they call you. Don't feel guilty.

[guest744967]

Weirdly I am in a similar place. It'll be 6 months for me and even though I am enjoying nursing. My unit is draining me. I have an educator on my unit that is not willing to listen to those who want help. I even feel at a stand still in wanting to train and progress in my career but this person is wearing on me. To the point I feel a little bullied over being denied education that is clearly needed for safety. I'll probably vent soon but make a goal for yourself and take initiative for yourself among the negative environment. It clearly shouldn't be forever!