Question

Describe the importance of being aware of your emotions and stress and being able to manage them during a crisis event while working in health care. What steps do you need to take to keep yourself collected and able to respond appropriately?

Answer 1

While anyone who works long hours at a high-stress job is vulnerable to burnout, nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals are at an especially high risk of experiencing this phenomenon, which defines as “a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work.”

Having a plan comes with two primary benefits.

First, it keeps you focused on what your patient ultimately needs.

Second, by having a set of steps to guide you, it helps you stay calm and level-headed. After all, you have a plan to follow!

Don’t cut corners on your plan, either. It doesn’t matter that you did something quickly. It matters that you did something right.

Communicate with your patients

Assuming your patient is conscious and able to communicate, they can be a vital source of information. After all, you can take all the vital signs you want, but the patient is the only one who can tell you how they’re feeling.

Do your best to keep the patient focused on the big picture and redirect them back to it as best you can. They might want to start talking about their pets or family — remember, they’re probably even more scared than you are — but that doesn’t help you make them better, does it? Keep asking questions relevant to their care. One critical tip for patient communication can be to say something like “I’m going to redirect you right now,” because it makes them feel like you’re not just ignoring what they say.

An emergency is a high-stress environment, but don’t argue or fight with your patients. Remember that they might be having the worst day of their lives right now. You’re the one that needs to keep your head.

Ask for help

You’re not alone. While you can’t (and shouldn’t) expect to be told what to do every step of the way — that’s what your training and education was for — if you don’t know what to do in a given situation, say something! The doctors and other nurses know you’re a newbie, after all; their first emergencies were likely just as stressful.

Never let your own personal pride get in the way if you’re not sure what to do. Don’t be the nurse who insists they can handle something they can’t. Your patient’s health and life are more important than a little wounded pride, and your co-workers have the knowledge, skills, and experience to help make hard calls.

You’re part of a team. Rely on them when you need to.

When in doubt, take vital signs

If your patient isn’t in immediate risk right this second, take their vitals. This can be a great way to identify problems that may not be immediately obvious, but it can also be helpful by telling you what isn’t a problem. If you can identify areas that don’t need your immediate attention, you can then focus on the ones that do.

Don’t forget to write these down, either. You may be missing something that a more experienced medical practitioner will notice at a glance, and they can’t do anything with data they don’t see. As another guide for new nurses advises, chart like your license depends on it.

Know what to do afterwards

The emergency has passed, and hopefully for the better. But after such a stressful and emotionally trying experience, you still have work to do. You don’t just get to go home.

Emotional health is crucial for a working nurse, and you do your other patients a disservice if you’re not in the right mindset when you see them. So after an emergency, take some time to get yourself under control. Sit down, close your eyes for thirty seconds, take a few deep breaths — whatever works best for you to get your feet back under you.

This is also another time to ask questions of the more experienced nurses and doctors you work with. If one of your senior co-workers did something that seemed strange to you, or made a conclusion that you couldn’t follow, ask them about it! This is how you get more experience, after all. Maybe next time you’ll be the one helping the new nurse on the block with their first patient emergency.

After all, hospital employees often work 12-plus-hour shifts—and residents sometimes put in more than 28 hours straight. And in many cases, they’re treating patients who are in serious pain or whose well-being or lives are in grave jeopardy. Indeed, it’s no wonder that 70% of nurses are experiencing burnout in their current position, while more than half of physicians report at least one symptom of burnout. Even if they don’t experience complete burnout, many hospital employees experience negative emotions such as stress and anxiety on a regular basis, which can affect both their work and personal lives.

However, there are steps that medical professionals can take to reduce feelings of burnout, stress, and anxiety if they work in a high-stress hospital environment. Here are seven different ways facilities around the country are trying to help their employees de-stress, whether they’re on the job or off the clock.

1. Group Activities and Classes

Hospitals frequently host or subsidize group activities that encourage creativity, social time, and stress relief. Popular class ideas include dance, pottery, painting, knitting, and group journaling exercises. Other group activities focus more on fitness and nutrition, such as educational sessions on eating a healthy diet or coordinating group fitness classes like yoga or aerobics. While engaging in these activities on your own can reduce stress and give you a mental break from work, doing them with coworkers creates the additional physical and mental benefits of socialization.

2. Facility or Department Events

Many companies host employee appreciation events to celebrate their workers, and hospitals are no different. Department lunches, holiday parties, and award ceremonies give employees a chance to hang up their stethoscopes and socialize without the pressures of work. If their facilities don’t host such happenings regularly, hospital employees can still coordinate their own low-key events, such as cookouts, potlucks, and game nights. Even if it’s just a couple people getting together for a casual lunch, it’s still a good opportunity to de-stress with coworkers who understand the unique demands of the job.

3. Havens of Relaxation

More and more hospitals are going beyond your average break room to create calming havens for employees to relax in during breaks. Sometimes called “serenity rooms,” these areas incorporate soothing features such as dimmer lights, soft colors, comfortable chairs, relaxing music, pleasing artwork, and beverages or snacks. Such rooms give doctors and nurses a chance to take a break from patients and families to clear their minds and release some of the stress and anxiety they’ve internalized during their shift.

4. “All-Natural” Stress Relief

Hospitals and employees often turn to Mother Nature to help them de-stress while in the middle of a shift. Many of the “serenity rooms” mentioned above use indoor plants to create a welcoming space full of life or incorporate water features to provide pleasant, soothing background noise while employees relax. Other facilities have created small outdoor gardens where staff can step out and get away from the chaos of the hospital for a few minutes. And if the facility is lucky enough to be located near beautiful natural surroundings, whether that’s lush forests or towering mountains, some employees find that just looking out the window is enough to give them a quick mental break and remind them of a world beyond the hospital walls.

5. Massages, Meditation, and More

Many businesses have begun offering free or low-cost massages to employees to help them de-stress, and no one needs it more than hospital employees. Some hospitals offer massages regularly, on a weekly or monthly basis, and even just 15 minutes of massage can help employees relax and return to work refreshed without having to change out of their scrubs. Other hospitals teach classes on meditation, deep breathing, and other relaxation techniques that doctors and nurses can draw from in a stressful moment when massages aren’t an option.

6. Expert Advice

Medical professionals may experience trauma while on the job, such as when a patient dies. Staff who work in certain departments, such as the emergency room or neonatal intensive care, are exposed to even more of these profoundly affecting incidents. Hospitals may call in chaplains to talk about the stress and provide emotional support to their employees, and some doctors and nurses also benefit from talking to peers who have experienced similar situations. In certain cases, some medical professionals find it very helpful to talk to a counselor, therapist, or psychologist about mental health issues directly resulting from work, such as PTSD among nurses.

7. Fewer Extended Shifts

Working extended shifts can negatively impact the well-being of doctors and nurses, in turn leading to more employee turnover—and less desirable patient care. For example, nursing shifts commonly last 12 hours and frequently go over that limit due to patient needs and staff fluctuations. Hospitals looking to reduce anxiety, stress, and employee turnover should work to create a culture where employees don’t feel pressured to stay for “voluntary” overtime or to pick up extra shifts. After all, when hospital shifts are shorter, the rates of burnout remain lower as well. Respecting days off and vacation time so medical professionals truly get a break are also critical for helping them rest up and come back to work refreshed.

There’s no denying that doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals experience high levels of anxiety, stress, and burnout, especially if they work in a hospital. Thankfully, facilities around the country are taking more steps every day to help promote the well-being of their employees. If you work at a hospital that hasn’t tried any of these stress-relief initiatives yet, see if you can start one or independently host an event for your coworkers.