What do you do if you're feeling overwhelmed by stress in your nursing career?

2 Practice self-care

Self-care is not selfish; it's essential for your well-being and performance as a nurse. Taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional health involves engaging in activities that nourish and replenish you. For example, eating a balanced diet and staying hydrated, getting enough sleep and rest, exercising regularly and stretching your muscles, meditating, praying, or practicing mindfulness, seeking professional help if needed, setting boundaries and saying no when necessary, taking breaks and vacations, pursuing hobbies and interests outside of work, and connecting with family and friends are all integral parts of self-care.

3 Seek support and feedback

You don't have to handle stress on your own. You can seek assistance and feedback from a variety of sources, such as your supervisor or manager for guidance and resources, your colleagues or peers for emotional support, your mentor or coach to help you develop your skills and goals, your professional network or association to gain learning opportunities, and your family or friends for love and comfort. Moreover, you can also receive recognition for your work and advice from peers, as well as camaraderie, confidence, networking chances, and perspective.

4 Learn and grow

Stress can also be an opportunity for learning and growth. As a nurse, you can use stress as a motivator to improve your knowledge, skills, and competencies. Stress can also be a catalyst to explore new possibilities and opportunities for your career. To learn and grow from stress, you can seek feedback and learn from your mistakes, take on new challenges and responsibilities, enroll in courses or workshops, pursue certifications or degrees, explore different specialties or roles, join committees or projects, volunteer or mentor.