Related: Anxiety, Balance, Boundaries, Energy, Healthy Living, Morale, Stress

My husband got back a couple weeks ago from a 5-day fly fishing adventure in Montana. For him, this is as close to heaven as this earth offers. Standing in a cold mountain stream. Watching the snow falling. Catching Brook Trout (I have no idea what he actually catches, but that's the only fish name I could think of). Letting [...]

Related: Addiction, Anxiety, Balance, Caregivers, Caring, Compassion Fatigue, Energy, Healthy Living, Motivation, Nurse Support, Spirituality, Stress, Time

“Take care of yourself!” - Wouldn’t it be nice if your job description included this directive?

Unfortunately, nurses, who pour themselves into caring for others, are notorious for self-neglect. There’s no one around to make sure you make “you” a priority.

It’s a conundrum—you know you ought to take better care of yourself, but you don’t. Maybe you’re too tired to care. Maybe you don’t know [...]

Related: Anxiety, Confidence, Death, Emotions, Fear, Feelings, Mistake, New Grad, Quitting

My first nursing job was as a camp nurse the summer I graduated. It seemed like a great way to spend my last free summer while studying for boards. Lots of sun, water, and friends. A week or so after boards (the whole country took a two-day written test on the same days) was the first time I considered quitting nursing. [...]

Related: Anxiety, Authority, Mistake, Patients, Professionalism, Respect

Everyone wants to be treated with respect; nurses are no different. But we often exhibit behavior that undermines our professionalism. Over the years, I've developed a list of the 5 things that scream, "I am not a professional!"

1. Sharing too much of your own story. I've done this several times. Once when I was assisting my doc with a Pap smear, the patient mentioned [...]

Related: Anxiety, Embarrassing Moment, Humor, Patients, Travel Nursing

As a traveling nurse, I was sent to check a patient who was close to dying. The night prior to my arrival, he had gone to the ER to have a Foley inserted.

When I arrived at the patient's home, his wife greeted me with, "Oh, nurse, I am so glad you are here! My husband needs to move his bowels, and I cannot [...]

Related: Anxiety, Authority, Doctor-Nurse Relationships, Doctors, Power, Respect

As a new nurse, you find out quickly the doctors who are approachable and willing to offer you suggestions and those whom you should try and avoid.

Eight weeks into my nursing job, I had a run-in with one of the “unapproachables.” He actually caused me to break into hives.

It happened when I had to call an orthopedic surgeon for a consult. He wanted to know [...]

Related: Anxiety, Confidence, Fear, Mistake, Perfect Nurse, Stress, Support

Have you ever gone home after a shift and been haunted by what you may have forgotten: Did I remember all the meds? Did I chart it all? When I passed on my report did I remember everything? Did I assess everything correctly?

I often wake up—as if in a nightmare—cataloging what I may have forgotten. It has created an immense amount of anxiety. I’m plagued [...]

Related: Addiction, Anxiety, Drug Addiction, Healthy Living, Mistake, Nurse Support, Stereotypes

Drug addiction? That could never happen to me!

I wish that were the truth. I’m a nurse, and I certainly never thought I was vulnerable.

Not all nurses will develop the disease of addiction. But for many nurses, addiction is real. Substance abuse in the nursing population is believed to parallel or be slightly higher than that in the general population: approximately 10%. And it very often [...]

Related: Anxiety, Career, Fear, Mistake, New Nurse, Quitting, Stress

There may be times when we need to take a turn as the patient – and let somebody help us.

A new nurse recently wrote, “I’ve been having anxiety attacks. I’m wondering if I’ll make it another week—let alone another day—in my job. My patient load is overwhelming. I can’t, in good conscience, handle the number of patients I’m charged with. I’m [...]

Related: Addiction, Anxiety, Balance, Caregivers, Compassion Fatigue, Drug Addiction, Energy, Healthy Living, Mindset, Prioritizing, Spirituality, Stress, Support

Extreme tiredness, negative feelings, weight gain, and marital problems.

One moment, Kayla thought she was depressed and that medication would help. Another moment, she thought her husband was the problem and that she should quit her marriage.

But Kayla wasn’t depressed. She suffered from something that affects many professional caregivers.

In recent years, Mary Jo Barrett, author and social worker from the Center for Contextual Change, in Elmhurst, [...]