The nursing profession may have been updated and improved by the advances in tech and knowledge, yet at its core, it is still a profession that has helping others at the heart of what it does. Over the last 18 months, the amount of risk in the profession has skyrocketed and has left many feeling stressed and anxious. This article provides ideas to cope with such stress but also suggests ways to stay in nursing and healthcare while reducing potential stress by moving off the frontline. Job burnout and chronic work stress do not only negatively affect your job performance, but also put your mental and physical well-being at risk. Individuals working in the medical field, such as nurses working for long hours and pressured by high workload should take extra precautions in order to avoid nursing burnout. To find out more about nursing burnout read here.
Many who are in nursing or have the intention of moving into the profession are not aware of all the different fields and associated careers linked to or related to nursing. It is a wide and varied field or profession, and as such, the frontline care aspect is but one of these components. Being able to understand this and being more aware of the opportunities in and around nursing will allow those who love the field to remain in it yet reduce stress and move away from the actual provision of care.
The increase in frontline risk
The nature of nursing and healthcare and the close proximities required to perform checks and assessments means that these workers are most at risk from any communicable diseases. The recent global coronavirus pandemic has not been an exception. Research showed that towards the end of 2020, frontline healthcare workers in the US and UK were three times more likely to get COVID-19 than anyone else. Their close proximity to this and other diseases means that those at the forefront of healthcare and making sure patients recover are also most likely to suffer.
Although nurses and carers have signed up for this risk, there are many who have felt an increase in stress and anxiety. The statistics for mental health strains for nurses and doctors during the pandemic are worrying and have made the profession more challenging than previously. Research conducted by Mental Health America has shown that healthcare workers are extremely prone to stress, with more than 80% experiencing anxiety and over 70% saying they are feeling exhausted and reporting burnout.
Despite these risks and the levels of stress experienced by healthcare workers at the forefront of the global pandemic, the healthcare industry is also one of the industries with the biggest growth in jobs at the moment. The current trends show that in the USA, employment in the healthcare sector will grow by 15%.
Ways to reduce work-related stress
Most people will say that their job can be stressful at times, and this can be difficult to deal with or to overcome. Healthcare workers, and specifically nurses and doctors, have, over the last 18 months or so, had a constant increase in stress as infection numbers rose and the risks to themselves and their families increased by the mere fact that they were performing their duties. A move away from the frontline may not be immediately possible, and as such, there should also be other strategies employed to reduce the risk and the stress related to frontline nursing until your overall plan has come to fruition:
- Use personal protective equipment and seek vaccination against the disease in question. The use of masks, keeping hands sanitized, and general handwashing has proven to be able to minimize the spread of communicable disease in nursing and hospital settings. Always be aware of a client’s risk to your own health, and although the profession is built on proving help for others, this must not be done at the expense of the nursing staff’s health. There is a balance to be achieved between patient health and worker risk, and you must keep this in mind at all times.
- Take a break. A workday can be incredibly stressful depending on the cases that you need to deal with, and a well-timed break will go a long way to reducing feelings of stress and anxiety.
- Take a walk, preferably in the fresh air, but up and down the corridors or in the passages will not hurt either. It is proven that the exercise and increased heart rate and breathing from a walk will serve to calm the mind and reduce stress.
- Be more mindful. Mindfulness is about thinking things through and being present in the moment – being able to think things through and not being overly reactive to situations. The aim is not to rush but to get things done in a reliable and steady fashion.
These are simple generic tips to reduce work-related stress and will work well in the nursing field to allow you to deal with stressful situations, allowing for a longer, more peaceful career at the frontline.
Move off the frontline
The number of jobs that are related to nursing and yet not on the frontline of healthcare provision has increased in recent times and are attractive opportunities for anyone looking to make a difference in the healthcare sector while enjoying a variety of benefits in their working life. Whether you are considering a role in healthcare management or wanting to do a post masters FNP online, there are many options within the healthcare sector. Further study and personal development are the main ways to access such opportunities, and the choices will be dependent on your level of experience and the education and training you have undertaken.
Healthcare management
There has been significant criticism of the way that healthcare has been managed recently. The importance of providing excellence in healthcare management provides an opportunity to make a difference without being on the frontline. One way to ensure this is to specialize and move into management with further studies and post-graduate nursing management courses.
As our population grows and we are living for longer, there will be greater opportunities for improved healthcare management and demands for those who can manage and lead the healthcare sector. This will require managers and leaders that are innovative, able to adapt to the requirements of the system and take the health sector forward into the future.
IT in health care
The amount of data and information that is produced by the body is vast, and there is a need for professionals that are able to gather, store, and use that data in effective and progressive ways. This not only requires IT skills but also knowing what kind of stakeholders need that information, how to distribute that information in a way that is accessible and relevant, and how to package that information for different platforms. Modern medicine is integrated and online.
This could be an excellent career opportunity for anyone with technical skills who want to contribute to the healthcare industry. Being able to harness, use, and analyze these vast amounts of information will make a significant improvement to the diagnosis and eventual eradication of diseases.
Nurse practitioner options
Moving away from the frontline of healthcare service provision does not mean having to let go of practical nursing services. Instead, you could look at different nursing options that allow you to interact with patients but in a way that is controlled, offers diverse environments, and allows you to specialize in specific family or home-based care. As a family nursing practitioner, you may start out in a health care provision service center or a hospital, but there are always options after gaining experience to move into the community care sector and also engage in home visiting. The right foundational degree or studies will ensure that you have the requisite skills for this, but you must be aware of the options to be able to move in this direction.
Elderly care
With more elderly people than ever before in the history of the planet, elderly care options across the globe are becoming a growth sector at the moment and for the foreseeable future. This, in turn, has raised the demand for health care workers and nurses in the sector. It is a more relaxed environment than emergency or hospital nursing, and although there will be sadness and there is some sickness and pain, it is run and managed at a slower pace than frontline nursing. The elderly care sector has been noted by previous nurses as one of the more rewarding jobs that they would consider as a career after frontline nursing.
There are a number of options, and those mentioned herein are both in demand and also widespread across the country as well as the globe.
Final remarks
Being able to recognize the risk factors in your employment and then do something about them is key to your feelings of well-being and mental health. The constant heightened levels of stress that the recent pandemic and emergency nursing situations can illicit will prove to be unhealthy for many in the nursing profession. However, as shown in this article, there is no need to leave the profession based on this. There are so many options in nursing today where your skills and experience can be used to help others in ways that you may not have ever thought about. Keep positive and keep on nursing.
