The nursing profession is rewarding and fulfilling, however, it comes with increased levels of stress. Numerous studies support this fact, with one report published in 2022 stating that about half of nurses experience moderate to high-stress levels, with over 60% of nurses stating that they experience emotional exhaustion. When left untreated, job-related stress can negatively impact nurses’ quality of life and overall health levels, affecting the performance of their nursing duties and providing quality patient care.
In this article, we focus on helping nurses find simple, effective, and sustainable relaxation techniques that can help them combat work stress, and remain physically and psychologically healthy.
Stress reduction techniques for nurses
1. Practice mindfulness techniques
Mindfulness, or the ability to maintain a moment-by-moment awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, sensations, and environment, has been proven in numerous studies to reduce stress. In one report, intensive care unit (ICU) nurses saw a massive decrease in stress levels after learning on-the-spot relaxation techniques. Not only do mindfulness techniques help reduce stress, but they also decrease nurse burnout and enhance nurses’ overall psychological health.
Here are several mindfulness-based activities that nurses can easily incorporate into their daily lives:
· Practice gratitude meditation. Pause to appreciate everything good in one’s life, big or small, via saying an affirmation daily, keeping a gratitude journal, or writing thank you notes to colleagues and loved ones.
· Perform body scanning. Body scanning can help individuals become more connected to their bodily sensations and reduce stress and even pain.
· Practice breathing techniques. These breathing techniques, which include pursed lip breathing and diaphragmatic breathing, can be done a few minutes daily and help relieve stress.
· Do mindful gardening. When tending to a garden, individuals must focus on the sensations, smells, sounds, and sights involved in gardening tasks.
2. Take a much-needed break
Part of being a responsible healthcare professional is taking care of oneself. This involves understanding the importance of regularly taking breaks from work, which can help nurses recover from long work hours and return to work rejuvenated and energized.
Going on vacation is great for keeping a healthy mind and lowering chronic stress levels. Going on vacation is not just about flying out to a nice location and scheduling activities, it’s about temporarily disengaging from any work-related activity to be fully relaxed.
You don’t necessarily need to go on lavish vacations to relax. You can and should take breaks regularly by using a different part of your brain that you don’t typically use for work. For example, you can set aside time to paint, play a musical instrument, dance, or have coffee with friends.
3. Move your body
Exercising is extremely beneficial for one’s physical health, such as promoting strong bones and muscles and improving circulation. Aside from physical benefits, exercising is also associated with reducing stress. Exercising reduces stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) and improves optimism and positivity via endorphins, which are the neurotransmitters responsible for feelings of euphoria.
In one study, 30% of adult respondents say that they feel less stressed and 53% feel good about themselves after exercising. Additionally, 62% of adults stated that exercising or walking was very effective when it comes to managing stress.
4. Spend time with your furry friends
Spending quality time with pets has many wonderful benefits, one of which is cortisol reduction, a stress hormone. In 2009, a study found that playing with cats and dogs for just 10 minutes can significantly reduce cortisol levels and enhance serotonin and dopamine, helping individuals be calm and relaxed.
Not only does playing with pets help with stress reduction, but it’s also linked to lowered blood pressure levels and the better management of certain illnesses. Caring for pet fish has been found to help teens manage their diabetes better, as the daily and weekly caretaking routines helped them better manage their daily diabetes-related care tasks.
