When did you feel as though you were the best in your specialty? How do you gauge your competency as a nurse? Various nurses will answer these questions differently, but there is a constant commonality.
Whether an expert or novice, anxiety on the job is prevalent. No exact number of shifts or years of service will deem you an experienced nurse. For some, the same pressure they experienced as a new nurse still haunts them years into the profession.
There is no doubt that as a new graduate entering the field of nursing, caring for patients is a nerve-wracking experience. What once felt like a personal calling may sometimes make you question if you made the right career choice.
Everyone’s timeline for when they get comfortable in their role is different. Some new nurses may struggle with general patient care, while others attack those tasks with ease immediately. For others, calling the doctor is a daunting task.
After many shifts and plenty of practice, the everyday tasks become routine, and you tend to get them done without much effort. So why has there been a noticeable increase in nurse anxiety? The COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone differently, but it cannot be the sole blame.
The feeling of being experienced as a nurse is subjective. Even nurses with years of experience in their specialty have expressed great anxiety and stress just thinking about their next shift. Reasons for stress and anxiety range from patient acuity to relationships with coworkers. Years of service as a nurse does not equate with confidence, nor does it decrease stress.
One common reason for nurse anxiety is the ever-changing standards of patient care. The nursing profession is constantly changing. What was best practice yesterday may be poor practice tomorrow. As a traveling nurse, I have noticed that one facility’s basic standard of care may be foreign to another.
Constant change is only one piece of the puzzle to understanding nurse anxiety. According to the National Library of Medicine, “The demanding nature of the occupation exposes nurses to a higher risk of developing negative mental states such as depression, anxiety, and stress.”
With patients becoming collateral damage, poor mental health is not just a personal problem for the affected person. In addition, nurse anxiety has increased costly turnover rates.
It is common to report to work and be the most senior nurse on the floor as a new graduate. It is also usual to be the outlier as a staff RN on the floor, with traveling professionals being the majority.
New nurses may not know what they are missing by not having an elder “nurse mom” or “nurse dad” to turn to for tricks and advice. Not having the support or someone to lead the way in your nursing career can be discouraging.
Nursing anxiety plays a role in increasing risks to patient care and safety. A nurse under extreme stress is more likely to make a mistake, such as a medication error. In the United States, medical errors result in 250,000 errors per year. A study conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic by Ohio State University found that nurses with poor physical and mental health reported significantly more medical errors than healthy nurses. Also, 50% of the nurses participating in this study screened positive for anxiety.
The National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health lists the most common factors linked to nursing stress, including:
Removing or changing everything that causes the average nurse stress or increased burnout is impossible. However, it is possible to combat the common causes and improve career satisfaction for new and experienced nurses.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a few practices can help combat a mental health crisis. It is essential to practice self-care. As a nurse, you are often thinking about your patient’s well-being. You must be intentional about taking diligent care of yourself until it becomes a habit.
Some self-care habits include doing physical activity a minimum of five days per week for 30 minutes or more. Walking is excellent exercise. The time or distance is less important than staying consistent. Also essential is eating fruits and vegetables regularly. It’s important to try to incorporate these food groups within each meal.
Some people may turn to very unhealthy coping strategies. You should always avoid smoking, and limit your alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day. Sleep deprivation may be hard to avoid as a healthcare worker, but you should always aim to get seven to nine hours of sleep each day. A stress reduction technique like deep breathing should be a regular practice. Anyone struggling with mental health issues should reach out to a mental health professional as soon as possible.
The profession of nursing provides a great deal of flexibility. Where nurses can work varies greatly. Full-time, part-time, and PRN positions offer flexibility in the type of schedule you may have. If one specialty is not a good fit, you can move on to another.
Working in healthcare is stressful, and caring for others takes a special person. The experienced nurse is slowly starting to become a minority. When we come to work anxious and mentally unwell, we risk putting the patient, our coworkers, and ourselves in danger. Self-care needs to be a forethought.
Written by: Brittnie Colleton
Brittnie Colleton BSN, RN has ten years of experience as a bedside nurse. Her years working at the bedside and traveling to different facilities make her an expert in speaking about quality of care and the importance of nurse health.
