Healthcare professionals and stress

I had to dig deep to find these stories – not much happened yesterday.

On Wednesday, I posted a link to an article about healthcare workers and stress. Anyone who has ever worked with the public in any capacity, be it a server in a restaurant, a bus driver, or receptionist, to name a few, can attest that it can be very stressful at times. While many members of the public are polite and understanding, many are not. Separately, being responsible for someone’s health is stressful. You don’t want to make mistakes, you’re dealing with people’s dreams and lives, with pain and discomfort. That’s pretty stressful too. So, combine working with the public with working in health care and you’ve got a heck of stressful situation sometimes.

There is never an excuse for a rude or nasty nurse or healthcare professional. Ever. The thing is, sometimes certain attitudes can be mistaken for rudeness and this can set off a chain of events. Picture this scenario: a nurse has a patient who is deteriorating rapidly and needs emergency interventions. She has another patient who is close to discharge, not well, but not acute any more. The healthier patient wants the nurse to do something, like perhaps get a pain medication, just as the sicker patient is crashing. The nurse has to address the sicker patient and deals with the emergency, delaying the pain medication for the other patient, or perhaps forgetting altogether. The scenarios that can follow are numerous. The original patient may end up perceiving the nurse as rude or uncaring, when this may be completely untrue – but it is the patient’s perception.

The stress doesn’t come from just the patient care though. Often, nurses (and other healthcare professionals) are pressed to make do in situations that really shouldn’t happen. This could mean short staffing, work overload, forced over time, and so on.

Then, there is the physical stress of the job. For example, someone has to be awake and moving at 2 in the morning. This person has to be able to make snap decisions and move quickly, regardless of if he or she has been able to get a decent sleep during the day. Patient care is heavy and very physical; causing many nurses to experience back pain.

All this paints a bleak picture, doesn’t it? I don’t mean to. Health care is very rewarding; there are few other things you can do in life that can affect someone as deeply as you can do if you work in this environment. But the stress is causing many people to quit the profession or to shut down while working – doing on the basic minimum and not striving to reach their best.

News for Today:

FDA adds heart attack warning to diabetes drug Avandia
New Drug Fights Medication-Linked Bone Loss
Weight Loss Drug Rimonabant Linked To Severe Depression Or Anxiety Risk

Stress – sometimes it takes a while to relax

Vacation is almost over – tomorrow we start our drive home. Instead of doing the 20 hours straight as we did on the way here, we’ll be stopping for the night half way through.

Although I’ve been enjoying myself since we arrived, it was only yesterday that I actually felt relaxed. I wasn’t exhausted or fatigued – I was feeling good, I felt happy and I really and truly enjoyed the day. It took *five* days for me to feel that way.

According to an article on WebMD :
(taken from the article)
- Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
- Seventy-five to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
- Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, or arthritis in addition to depression and anxiety.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually.
- The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.

Why are we so stressed? Does life do it to us? Or do we do it to ourselves?

I think we do it to ourselves. A group of people can be exposed the same types of stress and some handle it well, others get stressed and anxious. I know in my case, the more stressed and anxious I get, the worse I make it by stressing about being stressed. It becomes a vicious circle.

Yesterday didn’t start as a good day. I hadn’t slept well at all, as I hadn’t for the previous 2 weeks. The longest stretch of sleep I could get was about 20 minutes each and every night. Of course, by the time I would get up in the morning, I’d be exhausted and frustrated by not being able to sleep. I’d try to catch a nap during the day, but that didn’t help my stress or mood.

Here on vacation, the sleep wasn’t getting any better at all and yesterday I got up feeling defeated. After sitting on the balcony, enjoying the view and weather, sipping my coffee, I decided to stop saying how tired I was and that I would focus on feeling good and not feeling anxious or stressed. I said to myself that I was going to lie down around 9 a.m. and take a nap. I would take a good, solid nap and I was going to wake up refreshed. And then, I was going to have a great day. I was going to feel relaxed and calm. I didn’t use any negative words in my thinking, I didn’t say what I wasn’t going to do (not feel tired, not feel stressed) but what I *was* going to do.

Guess what happened? I took a very refreshing 45 minute nap and had the best day of my vacation. We took a walk on the beach (wonderful!) had a great lunch, went to visit plantation gardens (beautiful) and had another great dinner. Not once did I feel like I had to curl up and go to sleep. Not once did I feel stressed or anxious. I felt great.

Of course, vacation is just about over. But that’s ok because I think I learned something valuable yesterday to take home with me. Every time I start to feel overwhelmed or stressed, I will think about the positive ways I’m going to deal with my feelings, not what I’m *not* going to do.

As for today, it’s raining. Kind of a bummer on our last day. But I’m not doing to say that it’s a shame because we can’t golf or we can’t go to the beach. I’m going to say, ok, it’s raining, I wanted to check out some local shops and stuff.

Have a great day everyone.

News for Today:
FDA Approves Nasal Influenza Vaccine for Use in Younger Children
American's TB didn't spread on flights: WHO
Crib bumper pads pose suffocation hazard: U.S. study
Drivers with dementia a growing problem, MDs warn
Parents' participation in medical decisions linked to self-efficacy
Cervical cancer screening: Too many are left unprotected
Antibiotics overprescribed by GPs
Alberta taking slow approach on HPV shots for school kids
Nighttime dialysis reduces blood pressure

Vacation stress

Ok, what is it about going on vacation that stresses me so much? I know I’m not alone, and it does take away from the fun of planning my time away.

I am, as usual, stressing out as the time draws near. My kids aren’t kids any more so they’re ok. The house is ok because there is always someone in it. My work has been arranged so it’s ok for me not to be writing for a week (although I am bringing my laptop to work on a couple of small projects that have to be done). We have the funds for the vacation. We have the plans all done. So what the heck am I so flipping stressed about???

I know I’m worried that the youngest one won’t get to school on time. But I do have to say to myself, and so what? What’s the worst that can happen? And you know what? That is the only worry I have – but I let it bother me like it’s a huge important deal.

It’s not healthy. I know it’s not. But I do that all the time. Even if we go away for a weekend, I start to obsess days before about stupid things. Luckily, I’m able to let it go for the duration of our time away and I’m looking forward to a fabulous time. I know I will have one. Now if I could just learn how to relax beforehand, I’d be very happy.

News for Today:
Most westerners die in hospital, despite wishes, study finds
Screening family members could prevent 4 in 10 premature heart attacks
Pain patients at risk for sleep apnea
Suicide rates among U.S. teenage girls at 15-year high
FDA: New Merck HIV-Fighting Drug Is Safe