3 Simple Ways To Squash Compassion Fatigue

Ashleigh Boyd Nurse, ASN

Ever woken up covered in sweat at 3 a.m. wondering if you forgot to chart something at work?

Or, how your patient is doing?

Or, the mess you left at work?

There's nothing worse than the feeling you get when you think you should have done more.

You're tachycardic.

You're diaphoretic.

And, it always happens at the most inconvenient time, doesn't it?

When you're trying to walk out the door, or five minutes after you get home or the worst ... when you are trying to fall asleep.

Whether it's your charting, a late med or leaving your patient rooms a mess, doubting your every move can be a real pain in the ...

But, we get over it because we're human beings.

Sure, it's annoying, but generally speaking, life goes on.

Continued doubt, lack of support, increased daily requirements with no end in sight is daunting.

Not only does having to re-live your shift, replay your actions or recreate the real life scenarios in your head, it also wastes time that you could be enjoying for yourself.

At best, you come off looking unprofessional and unreliable ... so you think.

At worst, you lose a job - you lose money but save your sanity.

As nurses, we're busy.

And I mean, reeeeaaaalllly busy.

I don't know about you, but I'm often running around like an idiot trying to take care of my patients but also help my team out.

This is when things go a little awry.

It's not uncommon for nurses to feel like they are torn in 30 directions at once.

Ingrained in our heads from school is: what's the best option of these four correct answers ...

But, very rarely do we feel like we walk away a winner; charting done at bare minimum, call lights and bed alarms constantly sounding, titrating drugs and scanning later, updating white boards, informing families, arranging rides, setting up follow-up appointments, researching geriatric psych facilities because the social worker is on-call and not answering, taking patients upstairs or to OP areas, giving medications to patients, comforting patients, attempting to advocate for your patients, educating staff and families ... the list can go on and on and on and on and on ...

How? You Ask

How can I walk away feeling like a winner and not take all the what-ifs with me??

Real-Time Transformative Response (RTR), my dear.

Now, before you roll your eyes ... let me clarify a few things.

What is Real-Time Transformative Response (RTR)?

RTR is a technique that can be used at the hospital, home and anytime you are needing support to get out of the vortex of doom.

You don't have to give up control of anything.

RTR is all part of creating a work environment that allows you to decompress, release stressors and stop taking everything home with you.

Here are my top 3 life-saving tidbits, without which ... I'm not sure where I'd be!

1 - Understanding Our Bodies

I like to think of Biofield Response as a bubble around our bodies.

Although it's important to understand what is going on inside our bodies, it's just as important to know what is going on outside of them too. A simple way to think that homeostasis occurs when both inside and outside match.

Biofield Response is the inner communication highway that is literally excreted into the world from our bodies, energy and frequencies.

Have you ever just felt drained being around a specific person or go home feeling wiped out?!

That's because you are.

Your energy is literally clogged. Like a bad carburetor.

Throughout the day we are constantly exchanging energy and sometimes we gather too much of what we do not need. This is when you begin to feel bogged down, anxious, overwhelmed, or just plain over it.

Understanding this was the biggest eye-opener of my life.

I can actually take on the energy of others and make me feel even worse than I already do ... ?!!?

As Einstein said:

Quote

Everything is energy and that's all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way.

So, the environment we work in at the hospital isn't always the most pleasant: people, surroundings and situations. So this means that the energy we take on while we are there is actually changing us physically, emotionally and mentally!

2 - Celery Juice

Hands up if you suffer from: brain fog, chronic illnesses, and anxiety that are taking over your life from hospital-induced compassion fatigue.

Celery Juice is an absolute godsend, especially if you have multiple issues going on, or even one.

I totally get how strange it sounds but it's a miracle in a cup. I began juicing and noticed within TWO days a total change in my body.

TWO.

I swear by it. My family does and so do hundreds of thousands of other people.

Hands down ... 16 oz of celery juice on an empty stomach has single-handedly changed my life. Thank god for Anthony William.

3 - The Power Of Our Brain

Without our brain, there's no way we'd be functioning at the level that we do, right?!

But, the brain is so much more than what we give credit.

I can tell you that you can change your compassion fatigue, anxiety, overwhelm and stress in seconds. But, I can feel the eye rolls and mouse moving to X out of the screen ...

BUT ...

It's true.

You can change your past experiences that are tainting your current ones, and allow you to empower yourself with the gift of understanding how your neural pathways work. How you can repair, change and alter your brain sequences, triggers and creates a pleasant experience out of a traumatic one.

The power of our brains is endless.

Discovering that in less than 10 minutes, you can go from a 10/10 anxiety level from a past experience that is causing you PTSD and hindering your job ...

Down to a 2/10 by using simple but proven techniques is what made me realize that our brain is an untapped mega machine.

Compassion Fatigue is here to stay but there are so many things we can do to help ourselves.

Corporate is just now awakening to the idea that maybe, just maybe they have induced this nursing syndrome. And, just maybe they need to fix it before just enough people quit that their hospital won't function anymore ...

Ashleigh Boyd, R.N.

Nurse Anxiety Coach & CF Expert

3 Simple Ways To Squash Compassion Fatigue

How? You Ask

What is Real-Time Transformative Response (RTR)?

1 - Understanding Our Bodies

2 - Celery Juice

3 - The Power Of Our Brain

About Ashleigh Boyd Nurse, ASN

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