Dealing with the Stress of Nursing and/or Nursing School

Stress. It's everywhere these days. Our lives have become so busy that we often do not realize how stressed we are until health problems arise. There are ways to de-stress your life, even if you are a nurse or nursing student. While the following tips are mainly for nursing students, nurses can also use the advice.

Manage Your Time

One of the best ways to prevent or reduce stress is to manage your time wisely. Get a calendar or use the calendar app on your phone or home computer. First, put in appointments and meetings that you cannot miss, such as doctor appointments. For nursing students, put in your class dates and times. Next, if you're a nursing student, put in your study time. Studying should not be done in huge chunks...rather, divide your study time into small chunks of time and spread it out. Lastly, put in social engagements, time with family, etc. You may think it is silly to put time with your family into your schedule. However, if you do not put it in, you will find that you are overwhelming yourself with school or work.

Find a Release

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" - The Shining. If you've watched The Shining, you know how that ends! If you haven't watched The Shining, then just know that doing nothing but work and not having any time for yourself can make you extremely stressed. So many nursing students spend every waking hour studying or thinking about nursing. You should not let it overpower your life. Yes, you are learning about the career that (hopefully) you will have for the rest of your life, but if you never balance it with other things that you love, you are setting yourself up for loads of stress. Some people choose to exercise, take a hot bath, hike, perform yoga or meditation, or punch a punching bag to release stress. Others try their hands at photography, playing an instrument, or cooking. Whatever makes you happy, make sure to make time for it (and put it on your schedule!).

Take a Few Minutes to Compose Yourself

The way my day goes depends on my mornings. If I oversleep, I rush around, forget important things at home, and it seems like I am rushed the entire day. However, if I wake up with plenty of time to get ready, drink a cup of coffee, and think about my day for five minutes, my day goes much more smoothly. One morning I overslept, and I had forgotten that I had set up appointments with students all day. I ended up getting to work late, and a student was already waiting on me. I had to rush through that meeting, and still went over time, causing my next appointment to run behind. I felt rushed the entire day, and my mind was always distracted by wondering how much time I had left in each meeting. I wasn't doing myself or my students a favor at all.

This works in the hospital as well. Take just a few minutes to think about your plan for the day. When I worked in the hospital, I would take time in the morning before I left for work, and then I would take another five minutes after receiving report to 'plan' my day. When I did that, my day went so much more smoothly, even if I had to deviate from my original plan.

Calm Down

There are times when we are just overloaded and there's nothing we can do about it. There are deadlines we cannot miss, bosses looking over our shoulders, patients yelling at us. No matter what the source of stress, take time to calm down. Someone who is anxious or stressed will do no good in any situation. Go to the bathroom if you need to. Close your eyes and take deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Before tests, I always try to calm my students down by guiding them through a relaxation technique. It takes about one minute, and the students can calm down enough so that stress and anxiety isn't plaguing their thoughts. I have the students close their eyes and tense every muscle in their bodies. I guide them through breathing in through their noses, and out through their mouths. I then have them release the muscles in their bodies, slowly, from the ground up, starting with the toes and feet, moving up to the calves and thighs, and so on. At the end, when all muscles are loosened, I then have them breathe in and out again, just as before, twice. I then have them open their eyes. Try this at home. When you open your eyes, it is almost as if you see things in a different light.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

I have found that nurses and nursing students who are the most stressed out are the ones who are perfectionists. These are the ones who will write and rewrite a paper until it is absolutely perfect, align corners until they match exactly, arrange objects on a desk 'just so'. They do not necessarily have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but you get the picture. I used to be one of these people. I was only a perfectionist when it came to school work or something I had to present for work. Okay, I'll admit that I am still somewhat a perfectionist, but I have learned when to let go. I enjoy my sanity, and I want to keep it. Sometimes I have to give examples to students about what they can stop obsessing over. Yes, while instructors and bosses want you to have legible handwriting, that does not mean that your hand has to cramp with perfection. Just write legibly, and that is enough. If you have naturally neat handwriting, that is wonderful, but don't spend hours trying to make something look perfect.

Spend Time with Yourself

People often forget to take care of themselves. That is very easy for a nurse or nursing student to do. We take care of others by nature. That is often why people choose nursing as a career. However, take the time to take that hot bath, get your hair done, or read. Whatever it is that you like to do by yourself, take a few minutes every now and then to do it. Your body will thank you for it.