Support resources for nurses

[Ash1313]

I've been researching for the past few hours to try and find out about any support groups/resources are available for nurses that have been negatively affected by a patient. For example becoming infected with a disease. So far, I have not been able to find anything.

Does anything know of any, or if this type of thing it typically out of each hospital? Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Guest382916]

It seems that psychological support is not something that's done well in most hospitals. There is a lot of info online, and it's hard to wade through it all.

Some thoughts:

Do you have access to an Employee Assistance Program through your employer? These often cover counselling. Your employer should offer counselling if you have contracted any kind of illness from a patient, anyway.

Are you in a major city? If you are, try seeing if there is a mindfulness based stress management program you can get to.

Some online websites I love: Self-compassion - A Healthier Way of Relating to Yourself, Christopher Germer, PhD, author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion; clinical psychologist specializing in the application of Buddhist psychology and meditation to alleviate difficult emotions in psychotherapy and everyday life.

This is something I'm really interested in pursuing in my graduate study - it seems like the general culture in healthcare (and nursing and medicine in particular) is one of "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen", "a good nurse/doctor won't let it get to him/her", etc etc...and you then get people either leaving the profession, engaging in less healthy stress relievers such as drugs and alcohol, or turning on themselves or each other. Healthcare by it's very nature *is* stressful. We all need better skills of managing that stress taught to us.

Hang in there. You are not alone.