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Stress is something every nurse (every human being) deals with on a routine basis.

While some stress is actually good for us (eustress actually helps motivate us to move forward), the majority of time we hear the word ‘stress’ we think of eustress’s (did I just make up a word?) exact opposite- the ‘distress’ caused by unpleasant circumstances or overwhelming pressure.

Distress can feel unpleasant, impede our critical thinking skills, and cause chronic fatigue. What’s worse is when we feel like this all day long and we just can’t put our finger on the reasons why we are unhappy as we are. With the busyness of a nursing career, there are opportunities for stresses all around us… all day long.

[Tweet “Here’s how nurses can reduce stress in three simple steps.”]

1. Locate the area of origin. Ever hear of the ‘kick the dog’ syndrome? You come home from work feeling bad and you take it out on others around you, most times unaware of what is actually upsetting you. Before you can do anything to reduce your stress level, you have got to figure out what is causing you to feel this way. This awareness can clue you into the things that need to be changed so that your levels of distress can decrease over time.
2. Release the tension. Once you know what is stressing you out, you are gifted with a great opportunity. You have a choice. You can consciously choose to change the cause of the stress. Or you can go right on about your day, but then you’ve got to take ownership for the stressful behavior. If you do nothing to change what is stressing you out, don’t blame others for how icky you may feel.
3. Allow the shift. If you have consciously decided to ease the pain by releasing the stress, you have gifted yourself with the room to grow. Once the unpleasant cause is gone you have room for more. You can now focus on and allow the appreciation and gratitude to flow your way. A careful caveat here is to be mindful that you don’t slip back into old behaviors. Now that you have released yourself from a potential stress, make sure you don’t backslide into bad habits.

This list is by no means meant to be exhaustive. There are loads of other techniques and modalities that can help relieve stress in nursing. You may find some more tips and tools by checking out these similar posts:

• Top 3 Ways to Reduce Overwhelm
• Support Yourself to Best Support Your Patients
• It’s Easy to Make Health Changes When You Listen to You

What would you add to the steps above? How do you reduce stress in your nursing career? Let’s hear it for the stress reduction tools below.