Mental Health In Nursing Does Matter

At work no matter what is happening it’s hard to focus on ourselves as there are many things that need to be done in the workday and as nurses, we always have massive amounts of perseverance, it’s what we do. The workplace can bring forward many factors that can influence our emotions, we are all at risk at some point in our career of burnout or compassion fatigue.

In the work environment, there are many things that can become destabilizing especially with the transitions of life that move quickly. Asking for help can be uncomfortable, many of us are independent and in some ways accustomed to managing ‘things’ in life as individuals. Seeking support is important but may mean giving up our vulnerabilities to someone else. That is tough especially when on the search for answers it takes a lot of courage.

I know that I’ve never wanted to trouble anyone else as people have their own worries to take care of and it can feel that our needs aren’t significant enough.

Seeking support means you are taking care of yourself by finding the right people to go for assistance, this may be from work colleagues, family, friends, or even from professional support organizations. All these ways of gaining support will vary in the level of support they can provide. When discussing any issues, you must have a feeling of being safe, trust, and fair to express your emotions openly.

By providing practical support I endeavor to answer these 2 questions –

1. Know what professional resources are available to use if someone is needing help?
2. Recognize when it would benefit the person to seek outside help and support?

For any individual before even seeking support, I think it takes time to understand the impact of a situation, and then it takes time to gain confidence to express how we feel. The consequences of not reaching out could hinder healing, appropriate support is essential to help anyone to get through challenging situations and to reduce the effects of emotional, mental, physical injury, or even illnesses.

Conclusion –

In this blog piece, I wasn’t sure how to fully articulate about seeking support, I’ve attempted to write some thoughts about why it is important to never disregard our own feelings. Asking for help or support is not weakness, if anything it is strength and to find the support you deserve is to heal, as we all need to heal at times.

We all know that nursing is sometimes a tough career but most important is the longevity of your career that gives you sustenance and fulfillment for many years. Remember- be gentle to yourself.