Finding your Happy Place in a Sea of Stress

Manage your Stress. Find your Happy Place

Tina Gonzales

 

If you’ve been a nurse for more than 15 minutes, you are already aware that your chosen profession carries a high level of intrinsic stress.  How could it not? The very life of another is often in your hands. Added to that responsibility is the nursing shortage that’s expected to exceed 1 million nurses by 2022, increased nurse-to-patient ratios, and the constant influx of new technology. Feeling the pressure? You’re not alone.   These factors and others are causing Nurses to report lower job satisfaction. In fact,  many nurses are actually leaving the profession. What’s the snowball effect? A greater nursing shortage, higher nurse-to-patient ratios…More Stress!

As a healthcare professional, you don’t need anyone to tell you the negative impact of stress on the human body. You are very familiar with the physical (headache, chest pain, high blood pressure, insomnia), emotional (anxiety, irritability, lack of motivation/focus), and behavioral (eating disorders, substance abuse) that can be brought on by stress.  No doubt you have discussed these consequences with your patients.  Serious stuff!  Staying healthy and in the game requires taking steps to avoid the stress you can, and reduce the impact of the unavoidable stuff.

There are many documented techniques that have been successfully utilized to mitigate stress. The challenge is finding the one(s) that work for you. No two people respond in the same way, and there is no panacea for stress reduction. The name of the game is to try SOMETHING! Some of the most common techniques:

1.      Regular Exercise and/or Yoga. Train for a 5K, lift some weights, or Meditate.

2.      Find a hobby, or do volunteer work a few hours a week.

3.      Get a pet.

4.      Try aromatherapy. Lavender, Rosemary and Vanilla are common scents to reduce anxiety.

5.      Schedule down time. Take a weekend and curl up with a good book, or a new movie.

6.      Catch some ZZZs. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-8 hours a night for most folks.

7.      Utilize Support System. Family, friends or formal support group.

8.      Keep a journal.

9.      Try something new, a change of scenery can reduce stress while invigorating your senses.

The most successful approach to stress is avoidance. Avoidance involves identifying the sources of stress in your life that are within your control and keeping your distance.  Here are 4 quick steps that will help.

1.      Avoid people that stress you out.

2.      Take control of your environment.

3.      Try saying “No” when you can.

4.      Pare down your “To Do” list. Delegate what you can.

Now for the catch. The people and environment that stress you out probably involve your work. So does your overloaded “to do” list.  How does one solve this puzzle? To state the obvious, perhaps it really IS time for a change.  The nursing shortage that drives the above stress factors, also provides more opportunity to transition into a different type of nursing career than ever before.  Not sure if you’d like working in another environment? Consider Per Diem staffing. You can pick up a shift or two in several other facilities and “dip your toe in the water”.  You might also look into contract staffing. Most assignments are 6-13 weeks in length, and give you a much clearer picture of what working in that new facility would be like. If you love it, many facilities will offer the opportunity to transition to a permanent position. If the environment is no less stressful, knowing that your assignment will be complete in a few short weeks can in itself bring a measure of calm.

Take the time, evaluate your stress levels, identify the root causes, and if it makes sense to explore alternative career paths, give us a call.  Accountable Healthcare Staffing offers, per diem, local contract, national travel, and permanent placement opportunities and we’d love to help you find your “Happy Place.”