Stress in Nursing

NancyJo · May 11, 2005

The biggest stressor in any nurse's life, IMHO, is fear. We nurses are born into a culture of fear. Fear of making an error, fear of hurting a patient. The consequences to the patient as well as the penalties to us and our families, can be awful.
So bear in mind that every day, every shift, deep down inside, nurses are fearful of making the mistake that will end a patient's life or ruin our own.
I see the marks of fear on every nurse's face that I work with, every day. We not only have to manage our own errors, but we are also responsible for the doctors', the pharmacist's, the CNA's, the Unit Secretary's mistakes. We might not be fully responsible, but every nurse realizes that she is the one most likely to be scapegoated. No other job in the hospital carries as many life-or-death decisions as the nurse's, yet we are underpaid, we have no autonomy, and our decisions carry very little or no weight at all in management issues--yet patients are in the hospital to get NURSING care.
Stressors:
1. High patient acuity with inadequate staff, which causes:
a. Delays in treatment to the patients.
b. Missed medications or medication errors.
c. Physical exhaustion for the nurse who cannot take a lunch or
bathroom break due to patient needs.
d. Misunderstandings with management and family that when a nurse sits, she's "not doing anything." Therefore, workplace design is such that ergonomically, the nurse cannot rest.
e. By the same token, nurses have a difficult time getting days off that they've earned and workplaces will bully nurses into coming to work when they are too ill to practice safely.
2. Workplace culture that permits docs, family members, patients and other nurses to mistreat nurses.
3. No competent nursing leadership at the national level, which sustains a culture of victimization and powerlessness among nurses.
4. Mandatory overtime.
OK. Off the soapbox.
And thanks for asking. I feel a little better now. :stone

Amen!! I couldn't agree with you more. It all gets so old.:yelclap:

Rnannie94 · May 17, 2005

Nursing stress - being responsible for everything! Doctor's orders, lab, radiology, any procedures, dietary, secretary, phys. therapy, anything that has anything to do with the patient ultimately comes down to the nurse and if the doc or any of the other departments make an error, the nurse is usually the one having to deal in some way. Also, being pulled in so many different directions and frequently being unable to take care of one problem while several others occur. And, finishing the shift wondering if you did this or that.....lack of accomplishment, lack of feeling like a job well done as there is always more to do....

can i get a second to that motion? all of the above happens way too much! :stone

Nurse_Advocate · Dec 6, 2008

Hi everyone....I am doing a powerpoint on Nursing Stress today and would love to open this website in class. I would like to take an informal poll on what you think causes the most stress in your work environment and what nursing specialties you think generate the most stress. Thanks....

These post are several years old. Thankfully the staffing ratios have changed in California. It's now 5 (maximum) patients to 1 nurse. This is a beautiful thing. However, depending on acuity, things can feel really hairy, really fast at any given moment of any given day.

That's why I practice the Law of Attraction in my nursing career. As you can see in these posts, nurses are really good at complaining. There is a huge aspect to nursing that leaves the nurses and the caregivers of these really sick patients feeling very overwhelmed and helpless. Nurses (and other HCW'S) feel like victims much of the time. Their loyalty to their patients takes over and, in the end, they don't take care of themselves.

The focus becomes very, very negative and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. A negative feedback loop, if you will.

I have found relief through incorporating the principles of the Law of Attraction into my nursing practice. I ASK the universe for what I want help with and I get it! I focus on gratitude and what's going right during my day. It makes all the difference in the world.

I write about solutions to nursing stress on my personal blog. I share the system that I have had great success with. Take a peek. Believe me, it's better than the alternative! My blog is listed via my public profile.

God bless my fellow nurses!:loveya: