Are You A Nurse Stress Cadet?

Just the other day, I heard the term "stress cadet" for the first time, and I was struck by how very apropos those two words are when considering the average 21st-century professional nurse. Are you a nursestress cadet? If not, do you know one?Most human beings experience varying levels of stress, even under the most normal circumstances, and for healthcare professionals and nurses, job-related stress can at times be overwhelming.As a group, we nurses are generally caring, compassionate, hard-working people who like to put others first. This is lovely, but we can frequently forget about a very important person---ourselves.Some nurses experience stress-related illness, depression, anxiety, burnout, and other symptoms and conditions (at least from time to time). Meanwhile, other nurses may find that such symptoms and problems crop up frequently, or even become chronic and apparently inextricably linked to their work as nurses. What to do?Be HonestYou see, I was a burned out nurse for quite a few years, and I just wasn ' t honest with myself (or anyone else, for that matter) about what was going on. I burned myself to a crisp, and it was my long-suffering, compassionate wife who finally put her foot down and demanded that I be honest with myself. And I was.Are you honest with yourself? Is your work running you into the ground? Are you, as I like to say, burning your wick at three ends? Sometimes, we nurses don ' t want to admit it, but we have to, folks. We can be the worst pati...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nursing Tags: nurse nurse self care nurse wellness nurses nursing Source Type: blogs