It was exactly this day last year that I took the day ‘off’. All I did was lie around in my bathrobe, watching the Ravens Super Bowl party, reading my book, listening to music and doing self-Reiki all day long. The reason I remember this? The night before I was on a call with my coach complaining about how tired, irritable and icky I felt.

Her words echo loud and clear to this day: “Well, Elizabeth. You’ve been doing a lot. When you give and give and give it’s no wonder that you wind up empty. How can you help another when you’ve run out of gas?”

As I sit here, writing this blog post, 365-ish days later I realize that this conversation I had was the last time I can remember feeling that drained and worn out (yeah!).

Yet as a nurse, I’ve felt it before. I’m you’ve felt it too.

Nurses give all of the time. That’s the very nature of the role. To help, care, advocate, teach, share, answer, instruct, heal- the list could go on indefinitely. What I wonder is this: is it the role that makes us so overly giving or is it something inside of us that makes us go into nursing?

What came first: The nurse inside of you or the nurse that you’ve created through your role?

Now this blog post is different than what I typically do. Usually I’ll share a quick story and then highlight a teaching point with a couple of steps or tips. However, here I don’t claim to have the answers. I’m actually very interested in what you have to say.

Last spring I interviewed various nurse experts: consultants, authors, speakers, and business owners. I was trying to get at this very issue. Is it the person inside of us that makes it hard for us to receive, creating this overly-giving nature until we reach our moment of “I can’t do this anymore!”? Or is it that we start a strong, independent and passionate person who gets overrun and overtaken by nursing?

Here are a few theories to ponder:

• Could the people that are drawn into nursing have something in common at an energetic level? Could someone who is looking for appreciation and value outside of themselves find nursing an attractive field? Is becoming a nurse a solution to an underlying personality trait?
• Are nurse’s martyrs? By the very definition of the word ‘martyr’ means to suffer. Haven’t some nurses felt underappreciated, undervalued and as if their work is in vain?
• Are nurses addicted to the helping? How come we can’t seem to take care of ourselves first? Why are our priorities so off kilter? What is it about taking care of others and doing good work, even at the expense of our own joy and health, that makes it so appealing?

Again, I don’t have the answers to this. I’ve just been thinking of these things as I hear over and over:

• “I don’t have time for myself”
• “I’m last on my priority list”
• “I feel like all I do is work”

If that’s the case; why?

Why is it that as a collective group we act in this way? And there’s no blame or judgment here. As I just shared above, it was this time last year that I was rocked back to my own reality. Thank goodness someone pointed out to me how little care I was taking of myself.

What do you think about this debacle? Is it us as a collective group that creates this vicious cycle or is there something even deeper? Is it because of who we are as individuals that has us gravitating towards this profession in the first place? I’d love to know you’re thoughts on this. Please share a comment below. Enjoy your health today. Thank you!