International Nurses Day: Tips for Physical and Mental Well-Being of Nurses

By Puja Gupta

To acknowledge the contributions and commitments of the nurses, the World Health Organisation announced 2020 as the "Year of Nurses and Midwives".

With limited sleeping hours, extra responsibilities, and added pressure, the nurses have been on toes ever since the pandemic broke. They are at the forefront and working relentlessly under pressure, fear, exhaustion, isolation, and emotional trauma. The stress and fatigue is bound to impact mental health, safety, and ability to provide the best possible care.

On this International Nurses Day, IANSlife spoke to Usha Banerjee, Group Director of Nursing at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital shares some tips to ensure mental and physical well-being of the nurses.

Acknowledging stress

If you are to improve your physical and mental well-being, then it is first important to acknowledge the stress you are feeling. Burying it away won't help you long term, even if it does short term. Eventually, you are going to reach a breaking point if you keep burying your stress down. The reason is simple. Everyone has a stress container (also known as a stress bucket), and if you are able to create good habits, like self-care, you can easily filter out the stress you are feeling. However, if you neglect to look after yourself or don't find ways to release your stress, this container will eventually fill up. Part of avoiding this from happening is first understanding and acknowledging your stress.

• Understand what is causing stress

To understand stress better it is important to acknowledge that one is experiencing stress, anxiety, and grief. It helps build will power and endurance. If you determine that the cause of your stress is the current job you are in, for example, then you can set a course for finding ways to better manage and cope day-to-day. Speak to your manager about changing your hours or how many days you work and the type of work you complete. If you are still finding that your job is causing you stress, think about changing your work environment or job altogether. There are plenty of nursing positions out there that enable you to stay in the industry but involve completely different tasks. If you are currently working as a critical care nurse or an ER nurse, then you should look for something that is a lot less stressful. For example, if you were to take the TWU Online Nursing FNP program, you could gain the qualifications you need to become a nurse practitioner. Upon graduating, you could then apply to be a school nurse practitioner, which is one of the least stressful nursing jobs on the market. With experience under your belt, you could even opt to become a nurse educator or clinic nurse practitioner. With a change in your job role and environment, you could find that your stress levels shrink, and you are able to handle it better.

However, it is important to note that in an industry like this, there are still likely to be causes of stress, just not to the same degree for each role. Therefore, if you are to remain healthy, you need to acknowledge the following about stress:

• Understand your reactions are normal

Exercise self-compassion and recognise that almost everyone impacted by an emergency will experience psychological distress. These reactions are by no means an indication of weakness. Make sure to remember this when you face the most difficult times. Don't be too harsh on yourself for not being able to cope well with a situation. Humans are meant to feel emotion, and however you express that emotion, don't be frustrated with yourself for doing so. You are not weak; you are just a normal human experiencing the feelings everyone does at some point. Unfortunately, you will experience it more often than others due to your job role.

• Secondary stress is common

Understand that anyone helping during this time is susceptible to excessive stress and trauma, as a nurse, you are also vulnerable to secondary traumatic stress. Therefore, even if you try to take control of your stress by changing careers, understand that you can't completely eradicate it. You will be experiencing secondary traumatic stress at moments during your career. However, knowing this in advance can help you properly prepare to be able to cope with it.

• Difficult decisions can impact your stress

Know that you may also experience moral distress as you have to make difficult decisions pertaining to your personal and professional lives. This can increase your stress levels, especially when you don't know what each day is going to bring. Some days may push you to the limits sometimes, but with the support of your colleagues and friends, and family, you will be able to push through. With the bad also comes the good, remember.

Ensure well being

By acknowledging your stress, you can then start to make positive changes that will ensure your well-being is improved. There are several great tips that you can try out for yourself.

• Practice breathing exercises

Breathing exercises can help you to relax. Therefore, when you find yourself facing a stressful situation at work, take a moment to focus on your breathing. You will need to practice this in your free time as much as you can. Belly breathing is a great exercise to try out. Sit or lie down in the most comfortable position for you. Then place one hand on your belly, putting the other one on your chest. Breathe deeply through your nose, letting your belly push out your hand. When doing this, your chest shouldn't move. As you breathe through your lips, you will feel your belly go back in. You should aim to do this at minimum three times and as many as 10, taking your time with it. After trying these out, you could move on to more advanced practices, such as 4-7-8 breathing, roll breathing, and morning breathing. Each exercise slightly differs. For example, roll breathing will involve full use of your lungs and the 4-7-8 will involve counting. Learning breathing exercises can help you in the most stressful situations. Focus on your breathing to calm yourself down and feel more relaxed.

• Eat regularly

If you can eat regularly scheduled meals and avoid foods that increase inflammation in the body, then you are ensuring you are doing everything you can to remain healthy. Although you may be working unusual hours as a nurse, if you can meal prep in advance and take this to work, it at least means you won't be relying on canteen food or, worse, vending machine food and drink. Instead, you will be enjoying a nutritious meal packed with everything you need to keep up your energy levels and maintain a healthy weight.

• Find inner peace

Try a mind-body practice like mindfulness or yoga in your spare time at home. First thing in the morning may be perfect for you, but it may be that others prefer to wind down their evening with a yoga routine. Just like the breathing exercises will relax you, so will these are crucial to remaining healthy both physically and mentally.

• Be open

You should take the time to talk to family and close ones about your feelings of any kind of distress. Give them a call one day after work, or see if it is possible to come over to see them for a chat because you've had a hard day. Being able to talk about what happened can enable you to let everything off your chest and move on from the day. They may have some great tips for helping you feel better and could provide you with the distraction you need to put a smile on your face.

Take Time for Your Mental Health

Mental health is as important as your physical health, so you want to be taking the time to look after this, too. Follow these tips for doing just that:

• Support is vital

Create ongoing supportive connections with colleagues who can validate and normalise your stressful experiences is going to be key to looking after yourself. Make sure to have regular check-ins with your manager and form friendships with those around you. You need to ensure that in times of need, there is someone there that can give you the support you need, so who is better than those you work with every day and who completely understand how you are feeling?

• Self-care matters

Touched upon briefly above, you need to schedule time for self-care, such as talking with a friend or meditating if you want to keep your stress levels low. It will be vital to be able to manage your stress container. Some good self-care habits to start doing include sleeping the recommended 6-8 hours, exercising, taking a bath, treating yourself, and expressing gratitude. There are loads of self-care rituals you can create; find what works for you, then keep at it.

• Talk to professionals

If you are still struggling, seek out a trained mental health professional to help ensure that you are acknowledging your extreme stress. Professionals will be able to offer you all the advice you need to overcome a more difficult period in your working career and help you form good habits and coping techniques for the future.