From the Mayo Clinic here is a definition of resilience: the ability to bounce back from adversity and how this ability positively affects overall physical and mental health.
I've been a nurse for more than 23 years in various capacities and have witnessed great adversity in patients and families:
A family in our neighborhood lost their 2 y/o son to leukemia. As a legacy to their son, they established a fund-raiser for our local St Jude affiliate and have become spokesmen for childhood cancer support. They have also had another child, remain active in other community activities and though they still mourn the loss of their son, they have triumphed over this monumental tragedy.
My close friend has lost two jobs in the last two years thru no wrong doing of her own and has survived two strokes. She has gone from making >$100k/year to less than $30k/year. Yet, she still smiles, considers herself lucky to have good friends in her life and that the Lord allows her to wake up each day. She continually looks to the future.
Another friend found out, at age 23 that he has stage IV colorectal cancer. His faith in God sustains him and his wife and allows them to support their infant son throughout this ordeal. He greets everyone with a smile and asks how YOU are doing before you get to ask how HE is doing.
What makes these people so resilient? Is it their upbringing? Their faith? Something else? I don't know. However, I hope I develop it or earn it or can one day buy it!
And there are other steps that you can take to develop resilience.
In this day and age, we know as nurses, our world is all about change. To cope with the change, we all need to be resilient. Other steps we can take as nurses include:
Embrace change. Be the first in your unit to sign up for in-services on new equipment or procedures. Look to the positives of change.
Take care of yourself: (I know we've all heard this before but its true) - get enough sleep, especially if you are a shiftworker, drink water, exercise (aim for 30 minutes a day - it can be increments of 10 minutes) and overall, you have to be best YOU you can be!
Sign up to be on a committee. Be at the forefront of your unit. This might allow you to realize your place in the unit and also provide you with advancement potential.
Further your education. Get the BSN or MSN that will open doors. Bedside nursing can become more difficult as you age and getting that degree allows for more opportunities.
Don't let your age be the deciding factor. If you plan to work until you are 65 or beyond going back to school in your 40's or 50's is often doable.
Get your specialty certification. There can be financial incentives for this as well. It can also help you to be the expert on your unit or shift.
Volunteer to precept new nurses on your unit. Remember back to your days as a newbie: what did you appreciate, like or dislike? What do you wish had been taught during orientation?
Mentor new nurses. Be the nurse you want to work with!
So...in the end, what I learned is: in many cases, resilience is what YOU make of it.
The way I see it life is one long road filled with many forks. What makes one take one fork over the other is unknown to me. What makes one resilient and another not is beyond me. I lost my father in my 20s to colon cancer. My cousin lost his mom at 18 to cancer. The deceased were siblings. My siblings mourned and kept down the road. My cousin is still stuck back in 1994. The only difference is how we were raised. His parents coddled, never made their children's life anything than easy. It was always fun time. My parents instilled very hard work and not to expect anything. You just bucked up and moved on because what choice did you have? My grandma died very unexpectedly. All of my siblings nearly through ourselves into the grave with her. However, we mourned and now remember but moved down that road. It's what she would have wanted. I am a believer in God. I feel he guides my life. I don't know if that's the reason or not. I too have often wondered why some just truck on and some just stay stuck.
I am working on a med-surg floor, like any other it's busy, overwhelming and I often feel myself "drowning" in the daily tasks expected of me. This past weekend I reached out for help and the response I got from one of our senior nurses was a filled with annoyance and lack of understanding. That hurt, and for the last 2 hours of my shift everyone was saying, "oh she's grumpy". I wasn't just being grumpy, I was upset and hurt by one particular nurse's response to my call for help. I came home, and I blamed her for how I felt. With all of the events at work building up I began questioning how long I could stay on the unit.
After reading this post I realize that these things are going to happen, things aren't always going to be peachy and sunshine and rainbows especially on a busy unit. I need to become resilient and strong. I didn't approach that nurse and let her know how she made me feel. Instead I rambled and mumbled to myself about it. It was fear that held me back, I was scared to say anything to her. For things to change on the unit I need to be apart of the change, I need to show co-workers that I am a strong nurse, and I will not be walked over. And I need to show the new nurses on the floor this is not how the unit runs. I was asked recently to mentor a new nurse for a few days in November, I neglected to respond, and it was because I don't like my job right now, and I am blaming the people I work with.
After reading this post I will move toward the kind of person (and nurse) that I want to be, and show new nurses a connection can be made with others to support and grow with each other. I will be kind to myself, take care of myself and others. I will disconnect from the gossip, and hurtful comments made by others. I moments of need I will provide the support to others, and reach other to others. I will show growth and resilience. I will have bad days, but I will learn and grow from them.
I would like to increase my resilience. I'm a new grad nurse who's having an awful time staying physically and mentally healthy working night shift. I can't do anything but eat and sleep when I get home, and I feel mentally exhausted with random acts of crazy anxiety. I would love to be that person who's healthy, exercises, and joins the committees I'm passionate about. Advice anyone?
albertseole
1 Post
Nice Article . Thanks for sharing.
Dynamic Homeopathy