stress/burnout prevention calendar

tommyw1016 · Dec 19, 2008

I have been a RN since 1974, ouch, I didn't mean to date myself but want you to understand that Burnout is not new to the nursing profession. I have been in positions that I didn't like, whether it was the work, staff or location, I was blessed to never feel burned out. Here are some of the solutions that worked for me: 1) when you are no longer happy in a position, move on. 2) Are you bored with your duties, don't feel appreciated; seek out other positions in your place of employment. 3) This should have been first; ask your self, is this the right position for me? 4) Nurses should choose position that make them feel they are providing care to their patients that not only make the patient feel better, but makes the nurse feel better about his or her ability to help another person feel greatful that you were their nurse. 5) The most important element for me is that my position makes me want to learn more about what I am doing and how it will improve the care I deliver. Yes we all want more pay, yet when we provide selfless service, it works better because we recieve the greatest reward, " FEELING GOOD ABOUT OURSELVES. I believe that this is when your employer increases your income. This is what has worked for me over the last 34 years, working in areas that I believe I am the best in. You don't have to stay stuck!

Tommyw1016

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 19, 2008

for burnout prevention:

have a life! don't let your job be the biggest part (or the only part) of your life. enjoy family and friends, go to school, volunteer, develop hobbies -- have something else you can think about and talk about besides work!

take care of yourself -- even when you're at work. i know we're all busy and we have long lists of tasks to do, but take the time to eat, drink and take bathroom breaks. take care of yourself first, or soon you'll be too burnt out to take care of anyone else!

take care of yourself when you're not at work. make your home comfortable, learn to cook and eat healthy, satisfying meals. get plenty of sleep, manage your debt -- take care of yourself as you would a beloved, dependent family member.

get a dog. no matter that your feet stink, your scrubs are covered with biohazard waste and you're late for the third time this week, your dog still loves you.

and for burnout relief:

first, ask yourself if it's this job that's burning you out, this hospital, this shift, these co-workers . . . . it's nice to drop everything and change jobs when we're burned out, but that's not always possible or even desirable. so try to figure out what it is exactly that's putting you over the edge. writing helps. if you sit down in front of a blank piece of paper (or computer screen) and just write for 20 minutes or so three or four times a week, you'll develop a very good idea of what it is that's bothering you. i've even found that the writing itself is all i need to relieve the stress and head off burn-out.

quitting your job, moving across the continent and getting a different job in a different city with a different set of stressors is a cure for burn-out, and it's one i've employed a time or two. but most of us can't just up and leave. so explore less disruptive solutions.

sometimes a simple change of shift will help. i loved night shift and resisted all attempts to get me to go to days until i was forced to go to day shift by sheer stint of the fact that i couldn't sleep in the daytime anymore. all those crispy feelings of burn-out evaporated as i faced new and different opportunities and challenges.

change institutions within the same specialty. if you're a nicu nurse and love nicu, maybe try a job in the nicu across town or in the next town over.

change specialties within the same institution -- if you're a crispy nicu nurse, maybe you want a spell with labor and delivery, er, flight nursing, radiology or the pediatricians' office.

take on new responsibilities in your current job. start doing (or quit doing) charge, earn a certification, volunteer for a committee, start a special project.

or (and sometimes this happens to us spontaneously and only afterward to we realize that it fixed our burn-out symptoms) develop your non-working life so that work is merely what you do to get that paycheck you spend on your exciting life with your new lover, remodeling that huge barn of a "fixer-upper" house you just bought, indulging your passion for horses, travel -- whatever.