How to Cope with Stress in Nursing

Nowadays, employees often complain too much stress because of work. In the medical field, medical staff also experiences some amount of stress, especially for nurses. Because of the changing shift, nursing roles and responsibilities like patient care and paperworks, nurses often experience exhaustion and stress.

Here are some of the strategies in which to cope with stress in nursing:

Maintain a routine of regular exercise and good nutrition–Yes, even with busy and crazy shifts, nurses should get a regular exercise as well as balance diet. This will help the body as well as the mind to function properly, hence, cope with the daily strains.

image credit to : http://www.aihcp.org/

image credit to : http://www.aihcp.org/

Try to be as non-threatening as possible —Attitude is also the key. If you are kind as well as nice to your colleagues and patients, no matter how hard a situation may be, it would be less stressful if you do not engage into heated conversations every time on your encounters.

Strive to communicate well at all levels.—With the right and proper communications in all your dealings, it may be in dealing with your colleagues or your patients or your patients’ relatives, stress would be less if you always handle the situations with proper communications and pleasant personality.

Take advantage of the mentors provided.—It is advisable that you learn from them, they are your mentors for a certain reason. Some bosses can be very tough but you can always find a mentor that is really worth of your time and efforts.

Guard yourself against compassion fatigue through self awareness.—You need to unload and de-stress from all your duties and responsibilities.

Attain a certification in one’s nursing specialty. – In every profession, we need to upgrade ourselves and have a focus specialization. This would be less stressful as well as for our self-development . This is something nurses should strive for throughout nursing career because in life, there is always room left for improvement.

Nurses experience a range of emotions in their daily work due to a wide range of duties and responsibilities. It is imperative to have a break and undo the feelings of being challenged, stimulated, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Nurses deserve to be treated and have to feel more competent, confident, and rewarded.

Here is a good Guide for Stress Management for nurses by NSW Health: