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People look to nurses to fix their wounds, listen to their problems, and help the get better when they are sick. Nurses are almost indestructible in the eyes of many; however, what we fail to recognize is how stressful their jobs are. Nurses work very long hours, in environments that are often short-handed, and subjected to constant life and death situations. As such, many of our nurses, stressed to the max, are in danger of burning from their jobs. Nurses need help too and, as a nurse, you must know where to go when you need help.
It is critically important that nurses be taught the symptoms of stress. By catching stress early, it can be addressed easily with rest and relaxation. It is those nurses who keep going in spite of their stress level, that end up in the worst situations. If you are feeling the stress of your job, it is time to take a short break. Often, even a weekend off will help.
It is a sad fact that there are not a lot of resources for nurses. All nurses are encouraged to find a good counselor to meet with . They should also have a general practitioner to discuss the physical symptoms of stress. Hopefully, hospitals and doctors will begin to recognize just how much pressure is placed on nurses and will work to discuss the situation.
As nurses, we often feel that we have to be strong all the time. It may be that we need to take our own advice and learn that everyone needs a break sometimes.
