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Have you ever been at work and felt like screaming at the top of your lungs: I can't take it any more! I know I have. Nursing is a stressful profession. There are many studies and articles analyzing the stress associated with nursing but they don't always translate into a less stressful work environment.
Because nursing is heavily dictated by policies and procedures, many nurses feel they are powerless to bring change into the work place. Nurses deal with potential and actual life and death situations on a daily basis. Add to that poor staffing and conditions are ripe for a stressful work environment.
You might be thinking right now, what can I do? Relax, there are many different steps and approaches to reducing work stress and making positive changes to your work environment.
When you have job related stress you have 4 basic options:
a) Bring positive change to your work environment
b) Learn to use stress reduction techniques.
c) Quit
d) Do nothing.
This article addresses the first two options.
BRINGING POSITIVE CHANGE TO YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT
If you want to change your work environment, it is important to understand a few fundamental issues. Health care is a business. Your company needs to save and make money. Your manager must follow certain company policies and protocols. Also, he or she may receive a bonus for keeping costs down in your department. Lastly, no manager wants to hear complaining without suggested solutions. You could have a fantastic solution that your manager hasn�t thought of before or your manager may not even be aware a problem exists.
1. Make it a policy to never complain to your boss unless you have a realistic solution to you complaint. Then your boss will be much more apt to listen to you.
2. Present your boss with an objective, unemotional, description of the problem. Then, provide a solution that would fix the problem and result in a better, more efficient work environment. Make sure your information is very specific. For example:
PROBLEM: Our staffing decreases by 3 RNs and 1 CNA at 1900. We receive the same number of post-ops, and pass approximately the same number of medications and answer the same number of call lights between 1500 and 1900 as we do 1900-2200.) Here are the statistics.
SUGGESTED SOLUTION: Would you consider changing the schedule so we have better coverage between 1900 AND 2200 etc.
PROBLEM: All of our supplies are located at the North end of the hall. I make approximately 8 trips a shift to the supply closet.
SUGGESTED SOLUTION: Would you consider putting either all our supplies in the middle of the hall or put one half of the supplies at each end of the hall. This would save each nurse approximately 15 minutes a shift.
3. Enlist the help of your co-workers. Encourage them to help collect data to provide a case for changing a difficult work situation.
4. Put your suggestions in writing, Ask for follow-up and feedback by a certain date and request that a copy of your suggestions be put in your personnel file.
5. Create an atmosphere of joyful work Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle Plato. Make it a habit of complimenting one co-worker a day, and make it a habit of helping one co-worker a day.
6. Ask your manager for an in-service on stress reduction. Here are some statistics that might sway his or her answer: The bottom line for nursing administrators is that employee stress and burnout incur significant financial obligations to agencies; specifically, estimates, nationally, based on government, industry, and health groups, place the cost of stress at approximately $250 to $300 billion annually). This includes estimates of the dollar effects of reductions in operating effectiveness, poor decision making, medical expenses, and attrition resulting from stress. (Jones, Tanigawa, & Weisse, 2003)
7. If you boss is doing a good job, let them know! Be specific. For example, if your manager changed the format for giving report and it resulted in your getting better information and spending less time in report, let him/her know.
8. Always ask for an exit interview when you leave a job. Be very frank in giving feed back to your human resources department. This could lead to improvements in your department
KEEPING YOUR STRESS DOWN, MOMENT BY MOMENT
First, you need to recognize when you are stressed. Here are some of the many physiological and psychological responses to stress identified by the American Holistic Nurses Association: heart disease, strokes, susceptibility to infections, immune disorders, gastrointestinal problems, irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, weight gain, weight loss, eating disorders, muscular and joint pain, headaches, sleep disturbances, sexual and reproductive dysfunction, premenstrual syndrome, fertility issues
Live your life as though every act were to become a universal law - Immanuel Kant
1. Make it a habit of taking about solutions, not problems.
2. Treat your co-workers how you would like to be treated. A good attitude is infectious and you will be its first beneficiary.
3. Remember to breathe. It is human nature to hold your breath or breathe shallowly when in a stressful situation. Practice, right now, taking in a deep breath in. This triggers a relaxation response in the body. Do this at least 10 times a shift.
4. Just before you go to sleep, think of everything you did well on the job. Do this every day.
5. Become familiar with the labor laws in your state. They usually include a 30-minute break and two 15-minute breaks. Unless there is a work emergency, take those breaks, it is the law!
6. Learn to say no. Many nurses over-commit themselves. No one can read your mind so you must speak up for yourself. If you don't want to or can't do something, and the request is unreasonable or not part of your job description, just say no.
7. Learn to laugh.
8. Take care of yourself. Instead of plopping yourself in front of the TV, go for a walk or do any exercise that is enjoyable.
9. Eat well, eat healthy, and eat less. Love yourself.
Each work situation is different. Sometimes you can positively influence it and sometimes it just isn't the right match. Never give up. There are many tools available to help reduce stress and create positive working environments. Use them, be kind to your self and others don't forget to take the bull by it's horns and be an agent of positive change.
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