Stress Reducing Behaviors

Stress can have detrimental effects on a nurse’s health. There are ways to deal with stress in the moment and healthy habits one can make to help unwind after a stressful day. The American Heart Association (AHA) provides great suggestions for managing stress as well as suggestions for habits that can be used to help stave off the harmful effect of stress.

A great way to take control of stress is positive self talk. Saying things like “I can do this” or “I know how to deal with this situation” is great a way to keep a positive outlook on a problem and help get you through a seemingly impossible day (AHA, 2014). Each person is guilty of self deprecating language. By simply changing negative thoughts to positive ones, the stress will melt away.

There are days when the stress levels seem to be out of control and immediate stress relief is needed. Pollard and Rice (2009) suggest strategies such as counting to 10 before speaking, going for a quick walk, or simply taking deep breaths. These will help relieve the immediate stress response and allow time to better deal with the impending situation.

Long term, the individual needs to look at their lifestyle. Making physical changes will relieve the effects of stress and help deal with stressful situations when they arise. Exercising 30 minutes a day will allow the body to use the excess chemicals released during a stressful situation (Pollard and Rice, 2009). That along with eating a healthy diet will help strengthen the body and mind, allowing it to relax and ultimately sleep.

Lastly, prepare, prioritize, and organize the day as much as possible. Making a list of items and prioritizing them will provide a big picture view of how to organize the day. This gives valuable information on how much time there is to complete tack and whether or not there is time to take on additional items. The more prepared one is for the day the less stressful it will be.

American Heart Association. (2014). retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/StressManagement/FightStressWithHealthyHabits/Fight-Stress-with-Healthy-Habits_UCM_307992_Article.jsp

Pollard, J., Rice, C. (2009) Stress: Changing the way we react. Health Hints 13(1). retrieved from http://fcs.tamu.edu/health/healthhints/2009/jan/stress.pdf