What to Do When the Busy Day Is Over
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2011
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to provide you with various ideas for relaxing and letting go of your tension from work. Although you may be familiar with these strategies, when you are actively experienceing stress from a high-pressure job--as a new graduate trying to acculturate to your practice setting, for example--you may forget to implement them. Ruminating about what happened that day at work and taking short cuts such as eating fast food and watching television, instead of a healthy meal and exercising, is all too easy. However, you must remember that your work is only one aspect of your life, all-consuming thought it may seem at times. To be a success in nursing, you must be a success in life. The ideas in this chapter will help you to remember that life is much more than work. Taking time for some of the suggested activities, or others that you find fun, is essential to make sense of life when you work in a high-pressure job. In this chapter, we will present some examples of how you might react under stress and then discuss how you might react in a more self-affirming way. We also discuss coping strategies from the literature that are generally helpful in dealing with stress.