Topics About 'Stress'.

So I have a history of severe, anxiety, depression, and some OCD. I got off my meds a few months back and as expected had some issues but thought I was doing okay for the most part. I've been doing a pretty crappy job of taking care of myself recentl...

There has always been an expectation for a nurse to become good at multitasking to be proficient and productive. But science has proven our brains are not designed to focus on more than one thing at a time, and doing so is at the expense of the very ...

In other words, as nurses, we see the terrible effects of disease on the human body and the human spirit. And sometimes it's easy to slip into focusing only on the negative. But if you do that, then you're at risk of becoming bitter and resentful and...

Not every holiday season is a Norman Rockwell painting. The holidays are NOT an exciting time of year for many, many people. To make it worse, people are supposed to be happy; so, folks feel they cannot reveal their true emotions. People walk around...

The American Nurses Association says 2017 is the "Year of the Healthy Nurse." The association defines a healthy nurse as "one who actively focuses on creating and maintaining a balance and synergy of physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiri...

We know that stress causes cortisol levels to rise which raise our blood pressure, raise our blood sugar levels, increase our lipids, etc. Blah, Blah, Blah. The point of this article is not to teach you something you already learned in pathophysiolog...

Having just watched the Webinar How the Brain Blocks Weight Loss by Susan Pierce Thompson, PhD and author of Bright line Eating: The Science of Living Happy, Thin and Free, it is clear to me now that all the diets in the world are not going to help o...

Okay, not to be a Grinch, but really Christmas has become just so ridiculous. We all want this season to be happy with family get togethers, joy, peace and harmony. However, there are certain expectations of us too that we might not always be able to...

There have been several threads and articles on this subject and I'd like this thread to be an interactive one on methods we've employed that have worked for us!

Working in the health sector can be so demanding and as such very stressful in this 21st century. No matter the category (Doctor, nurse, lab technician, etc.) in which you find yourself, you will most likely sail through some moments to forget. It is...

Anyone else ever deal with a case of the Sunday Scaries? ? The intense overwhelm that consumes you before taking on a new week. The fear of the unknown. The dread of the weekend yet again nearing an end. We've all been there and I think we as n...

Going to work should not be dreadful. However, for many nurses, the stress, burnout, and culture can sometimes make it downright painful to get dressed and head to work. After days, weeks, months, or even years of these types of feelings, you might l...

I'm scheduled as a medication aide and I am falling apart, literally. This not eating thing for more than half of my shifts has caused mouth sores and skin peeling around my nails. I am also getting more frequent headaches. And now, I can't focus wor...

A silly question. Right?As nurses we all can easily answer that one. I mean, come on. We've heard that word burnout so many times in our careers it seems to have lost its meaning. But seriously. Take a moment and write down how you define burnout. Di...

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is usually associated with active and retired military members, and although they may consist of the majority of those suffering from PTSD, they're not the only group at risk. PTSD can develop after someone has e...

I am ready to leave the nursing profession after 6 years. I have a bachelor's degree in biology and got my associate's in nursing. In high school, I decided that I wanted a career in nursing. By the time I entered college, I decided I wanted to becom...

The alarm jolts you awake as it does every morning after yet another restless, short night's sleep, throwing your systems into fight-or-flight mode as you groan inwardly: "Oh, lord....not again". Your mind fills with dread in anticipation of yet anot...

Loneliness and IsolationNaturally, all of us have experienced the feeling of loneliness and isolation at one time or another. This in and of itself is not a bad thing. Taking time to retire from the cares and stresses of our busy lives can serve as a...

I want to say, that I have deep empathy, for any nurse struggling with extreme and difficult patients, or their families, or is burnt out, and think it is great to come to AN to vent, etc. I think it might be an important part of coping now and then,...

According to the 2018 National College Health Assessment, only 1.6 percent of college students felt no stress over the past 12 months. Whether you are a pre-nursing student, enrolled in a nursing program or working towards a different degree, your co...

Circadian rhythms are physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a roughly 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in an organism's environment (NIGMS, 2012). Shift work disorder, also known as shift work sleep disorder (SW...

Of course I had been trying to mask the symptoms by taking aspirin constantly, but it wasn’t doing the trick. So what did I do? Of course - as a nurse who knows too much about what can go wrong, I assumed I had a brain tumor. So I went to see a ph...

According the the unwritten social contract, "each individual in a society has an underlying obligation, to the best of his ability, and before all else, to take care of his own basic needs, both immediate and for the foreseeable future, before atten...

You walk on the unit and can cut the tension with a knife. Everyone looks stressed. You ask how the day was to be told of multiple admissions, an unexpected death, and bedside procedures that were added at the last minute. This created stress among t...

It’s November 8th and the holiday season is officially here. According to Travel and Leisure magazine, with COVID-19 lockdowns, travel bans, and restrictions now in the rearview mirror, 69% of Americans will be traveling to visit family this year for...