Taking Care of yourself.

I guess there is no feed back about this.

I'm notorious about not taking care of myslef and I often pay for it be getting sick and just being emotionally and physically drained. I have started taking 5-10 minutes a day and reading an inspirational word of somesort and that seems to help. I have also started getting a massage when I can afford one. So far it's been about 1 every month or so and I would love to get one more often but I just can't right now. I think it is very important to take time out and take care of ourselves and not just our patients. :)

That sounds like great ideas. Does this give you a rejuvenated feeling when you return to work? do you feel you give better patient care?

By taking care of myself, I drink water almost exclusively, I eat plenty of fiber and complex carbs, I get a good nights sleep,I exercise a few times a week, I get regular health exams, I am forever the optimist, I take time out just for me... I think taking time for yourself is so important for the soul.

My philosophy is this: How can you care for others if you don't care for yourself first? How can you teach and expect your pts to take care of their own well being if you don't live by the guidelines you are advocating? We can tell the pts what to do to care for themselves and their health, but if we don't live that way ourselves, can we truly be effective teachers? Maybe I'm just some idealistic young student..... I don't know.

We should all try our best to care for ourselves and not let some excuse get in the way. I lived that way for so long, trust me, I know. Mccm219, I think this is a great topic that you have brought up. I would be interested in finding a website that dealt with this issue as well. Anyone else have more to add?

...Jennifer...

i go to the gym to work out nearly every morning, and sometimes again in the afternoon after a particularly hard day. i eat well, drink mostly water or coffee, walk my dog everyday, go get a massage every couple weeks, and try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. i get a big personal high from going to church and singing in the choir every sunday. i love working in my garden. in fact, my housecleaning suffers for the gardening! :chuckle i'd rather be outside. now that the weather is starting to get warmer (and we spring ahead tonight) , i'll be out there all the time. there are times i wish i had a special someone, but i've gotten to 40 years old without finding mr. right, and so... c'est la vie. i see a lot of nurse colleagues that go through a heck of a lot more stress than i do, small kids, nasty divorces, working with the surgeon from hell, etc. i don't know how they manage. my life is pretty simple in comparison. i'm very lucky.

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My philosophy is this: How can you care for others if you don't care for yourself first? How can you teach and expect your pts to take care of their own well being if you don't live by the guidelines you are advocating? We can tell the pts what to do to care for themselves and their health, but if we don't live that way ourselves, can we truly be effective teachers? Maybe I'm just some idealistic young student..... I don't know.

We should all try our best to care for ourselves and not let some excuse get in the way. I lived that way for so long, trust me, I know...............................

...Jennifer...

Exactly my philosophy, too Jennifer! We need to be good to ourselves all the time. No excuses! We need to love ourselves, and by loving ourselves, we will find the time to care for ourselves, pamper ourselves, and relax when we are tired, empty the bladder when it needs to be emptied, sleep when we need to sleep...........we need to listen listen listen to the signals our own bodies give us. To ignore oneself is to not love oneself or find oneself unworthy of giving oneself the attention one needs. Pamper thyselves nurses...men and women alike. :kiss

Good advice, Renee........it's a lesson we all need to learn. I know, for I'm learning it the hard way.........will I EVER get it through my head that I'm not 25 anymore and thus can't treat my body like I did back then??

Well, Marla.......I learned it the hard way, too. Some days I look at myself in the mirror and wonder what the hell happened. Other days I look in the mirror and think I still got it going on. My mind may say go for it girl, but my body is saying slow the heck down because I'm no spring chicken anymore. Makes me wanna barf sometimes. :rotfl: Aint life grand!

MJ and Marla things just seem to sneak up on us when we're not looking. Also make sure that you are emotionally healthy as well. Emotional health has been something I had ignored much to my detriment. If you suffer from depression, please get some kind of treatment for it whether it be counseling, of medications, because emotional pain can definitely effect your physical health.

I love the ideas everyone has on the topic. this is what i do to take care of myself.

A Quote from Confucius describes how i live my life, "It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop." I know that many people in life put things off, waiting for enough time in their schedules to start. I've been going to school, off and on, for the last 12 years. My goal is to become a nurse practioner.

At first money and prestige were my main objective for becoming a nurse., Now having two kids, I want a better life for them. As you can imagine, working full time as a clinical manager at a dialysis center, raising two boys and going to school has taken a toll on me. I realized I have no time for me, and reading self-help books does not translate into a better me. It may give me direction, but simply reading them does not necessarily take care of me.

Within the last six months I realized I need to set time for me. Now I take time for evening strolls thru the park . This gives me time to reflex on my day and the days to come. I find this to be the most stimulating part of my day. After this, I feel refreshed and invigorated to tackle my next task.

Also, every month I take a day off to go to the Day Spa. This is a day just for me. I get a package deal called the ultimate spa. this includes an one hour massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, hairstlyed with deep conditioning treatment and lunch. This is the ultimate in relaxation.

There are other things I could do to take better care of myself. Such as, eating right and exercise. This is something I am working towards now. If there are any suggestions I would appreciate them.

Taking care of patients is the main focus of nurses. The concern I have is the lack of care nurses have for their selves. I would love to hear some feedback on the benefits of taking care of yourselve, how some of you do take care of yourself and are there any websites concerning this issue. Please give me any suggestions.

I am very glad you brought this topic up. I am a thrid year nursing student in the UK and I am now really starting to feel the stress. A few weeks ago I went and got a facial. At that moment I vowed to myself to learn to take care of myself otherwise I am not of much use to my patients. I wish they pushed this to us more during our training I feel if they did we would not burn out as much. I have a friend of mine that since we started our training she now runs 3-5 miles a day. she is my inspiration. This has also rubed off to her kids who have started getting more fit themselves. Now talk about helping to prevent long term conditions.

Warrior woman I agree that Emotional Health is important in taking care of yourself.