Nurse Stress is Far Too Real, and Here’s How to Beat It
The life of a nurse can be a stressful one. From the long days and nights to the demands of the job, sometimes the stress of the work can not only be brought home with you — but affect your patient care techniques as well.
The stress of the job can make a nurse feel exhausted — which can lead to burnout and feeling rundown. The shifts can be taxing on the mental and physical well-being of the nurse, which can have a negative impact on their short and long-term health.
The main issue with burnout or nurse stress is the fact that fatigue can lead to errors or mistakes, which can then lead to a patient or professional to be at risk of harm or injury.
This is a problem for everyone, but it doesn’t need to be. A nurse, and in turn their patients, can have a better quality of life by making a few adjustments to how scheduling shifts are thought about.
Stressors in the Workplace and the Impact They Have
The attention to detail and the care a nurse must provide day in and day out can be overwhelming. On top of a demanding schedule, regular and satisfactory sleep and rest can be difficult to come by when working long or irregular hours.
Insufficient staffing can put too much strain on a nurse and can create a feeling of tension. A poor nurse to patient ratio in a facility means that there will be less time spent with each person in need and a nurse that is being asked to do too much.
Not only does insufficient staffing mean more work distributed over fewer people — but also opens up an avenue for more accidents to occur.
A challenge nurses face is that they know what prolonged stress can do to the body, but in order to care for their patients to the best of their ability, they may continue to ignore the warning signs happening inside of their own body.
Why Stress Needs to Be Addressed
The pressure that’s felt in the healthcare field when dealing with life or death on a daily basis is staggering, but nurses need to be at the top of their game at all times. This means nurses are constantly putting the needs of their patients and others over themselves, and the impact that can have on their personal health is astounding.
The impact felt from nurse stress can lead to fewer people wanting to enter the field or stay with it long-term. Issues with staffing can sometimes mean a nurse is doing tasks they normally don’t do, adding to an already large workload. It can affect the personal relationships of nurses and also how they interact with their colleagues or patients.
If facilities do not change the way they think about their staffing — the nurses, their relationships, and their patients will suffer. Time away and flexibility are ways to address this, but if the facility won’t bring it up, who will help?
How to Tackle and Eliminate Stresses
Sometimes, one of the best things you can do to manage stress is to focus on the things you can control and let go of the things you can’t. A nurse should no longer feel like they have to burn themselves out to meet the demands of schedules that don’t work the best for them.
With per diem nursing, you get to take back the control over when you work and how often. Being able to schedule your own work days may alleviate some of the stress you’ve been feeling when it comes to the job.
You won’t be the only beneficiary of feeling rested. The facilities you work at will be receiving a less stressed nurse, and you will be able to provide your patients with the top-notch care that you want to give and that they deserve.
Using NurseDash to create your own schedule is a great way to get your career started in per diem nursing. You get total control over whether you want to work once a week or once a month. The greatest part is, there is no minimum to the number of hours needed to work. That means you are free to work in other places or take time for yourself as needed!
Take back the control and get the work-life balance you always knew you wanted but never thought possible by downloading NurseDash today.
