Self-Care Strategies for Nurses to Avoid Burnout

As a nurse, I know firsthand the emotional and physical toll that nursing can take on your body and mind. Nurse burnout has been called an epidemic and can have serious consequences if it’s not addressed. Even though nurse burnout is a systemic problem with multiple causes and no easy solutions, there are strategies you can use to help take care of yourself and maintain a sense of balance in your life.

First, prioritize self-care. It’s important to take time for yourself to relax and recharge. This could include going for a walk, enjoying a hobby, or spending time with friends and family. Additionally, think about what energizes you and incorporate more of that into your life. It could benefit you to include activities like yoga, meditation, or reading into your schedule. Consistency is the key to maintaining the benefits of whatever you choose to do. A daily self-care practice can make a huge difference in your mental and physical health.

Second, create healthy boundaries. This could mean setting limits on the amount of time you spend at work or learning to say no to requests that don’t fit into your schedule. It’s also important to practice good communication with your colleagues, friends, and family. Being honest and open with others who demand your attention can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Third, make sure to take regular breaks. When you’re in the throws of a busy day, it can be easy to forget to take breaks. But it’s important to remember that these breaks are essential for both mental and physical health. Even if it taking a few deep breaths is all you have time for, it will help. If there is more time, use these breaks to get some fresh air, snack, practice mindfulness, or chat with a colleague.

Finally, remember that you are not alone. Reach out to your network of colleagues, friends, and family for support. These people can be a great source of comfort and help during times of stress. Join our monthly Self-Care Club to share and learn self-care strategies to help navigate stress and feel connected to a supportive heart-centered community. :- )

By taking the time to prioritize self-care, creating healthy boundaries, taking regular breaks, and reaching out for support, you can help reduce your risk of nurse burnout. Please go to my contact page and sign-up for my newsletter for updates on my offerings to support nurses who need help with self-care strategies or managing energy-depleting emotions of burnout.

Mindful Practice and Weight Loss

How Reducing Cortisol Levels Can Help You To Lose Weight

Have you made a resolution to lose weight this year? Losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy weight go way beyond the basics of eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise. It is now known that stress can actually stop you from losing weight, especially around your middle. Stress can cause your body to secrete high levels of the stress hormone cortisol into your bloodstream, because of your body's "fight or flight" response to stress.

Stress can be either psychological (mental and emotional) or physical. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands and is actually important for the regulation of blood pressure, the immune system, and many other functions. Cortisol can be good in small amounts but high levels can lead to an increase of abdominal fat, which can increase your bad cholesterol levels {LDL) and decrease your good cholesterol (HDL) levels and increase risks of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. High levels of cortisol can also decrease your bone density, leading to osteoporosis and loss of muscle tissue, which will also slow down your metabolic rate.  Each of you will react differently to stress; some of you will produce more cortisol to a particular stress while others will produce less. It has been found that those of you that produce more cortisol will actually eat more food as well, especially carbohydrates.

How to Reduce Cortisol

What you need to do to combat producing too much cortisol is to learn ways to relax and also to include more mindful practices in your life.  Relaxation can be achieved in a number of ways, and can easily be added to your daily routine.   Maybe one of the easiest and simplest ways is mindful breathing. This is done by gently breathing in through the nose, expanding your abdomen, and then expelling the air through your nose pulling in your abdomen at the same time. As you inhale and exhale you are focusing on the breath. After several breaths in and out you should start to feel yourself relax. You need to practice doing this exercise a few minutes a day to start with building up to five minutes routinely.

You can also practice this when you are feeling stressed or when you are experiencing anxiety. Just a few minutes can slow your body down and help it to feel relaxed. The great thing is, it costs nothing and can be done anywhere and anytime.

Mindful practices like breathing can be done while standing, sitting, walking, or laying down. After starting with breathing, you may be interested in trying mediation, yoga, Reiki or other practices. As a holistic health professional, I have several mind-body self-care practices in my daily routine.. I also am able to help others find the mindful practices that are a good fit for them. That is why I have integrated Reiki, HeartMath and EFT (Tapping) into my work as a nurse coach.   These practices will also help you to cope with the stressors that might occur during your day. You might find an added benefit of better sleep, and be able to organize your time more efficiently so that you do not feel so stressed. So if you are exercising frequently and eating a healthy whole foods diet but still not losing any weight, especially from around the middle then maybe you are suffering from high levels of cortisol caused by stress. Look at ways to include mindful strategies and practices and then you should see a difference in your weight and waist.

February 2022 How Are You Doing?

This is my first attempt at a blog, so here goes. January and February are hard months because it is always dark and cold. I like light and warmth, the good news is it is getting lighter and Spring will arrive on schedule no matter what the groundhog says. There is the tendency to want to hibernate and not get outside and exercise. The positive of this is more time to reflect on how we are doing with our self-care and health goals.

Being self-aware and able to acknowledge when we are having physical and emotional distress is a key component to reducing it and bringing us back to a more balanced state. Another important component is connecting with a community that will listen and supports us, and maybe even give us some ideas on ways to support ourselves.

I have been a nurse for almost 40 years, and I have a passion to help other nurses during this unprecedented time of incredible stress and overwhelm. I have decided to offer a free bi-monthly Circle for nurses and health care workers to help replenish their feeling of connection and support for one another.

Circles deepen the communication of the heart and can have many benefits in your everyday life.

Please join us for this new offering, click this link to sign-up now.

https://wellnesspotentialcoach.as.me/?appointmentType=30361221

2nd and 4th Thursdays, starting February 10th, 7-8 pm EST on Zoom.

I am looking forward to seeing you there!