This is the year the American Nurses Association (ANA) has chosen to focus on the health status of nurses calling this the “Year of the Healthy Nurse”. ANA defines healthy nurse “as one who actively focuses on creating and maintaining a balance and synergy of physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, personal, and professional well-being.” From time to time this blog has discussed the importance of life balance, so I am very excited to see ANA take this bold step. They will be offering suggestions and providing strategies to help us be or become healthier.
Do you ever think about the behaviors you do that are less than healthy? We spend so much time being nurses and taking care of others that we neglect our own health. When we are working we don’t eat properly and then we wonder why we’re gaining weight or developing chronic illness that are preventable. We teach others about diet and exercise but we don’t follow our own advice.
While it is critical to take care of our physical health, it is also important to address our spiritual and emotional health. ANA takes it even further and identifies other areas we should address to be healthy. Stress plays a major role in our health. I won’t go into the science related to stress, but we all can give examples of how stress negatively impact us. Sometimes it is of short duration and we quickly recover, but little stresses can also build over time causing serious emotional and physical illnesses.
Just a few example—How many times have you heard or seen these behaviors from nurses?
- They still smoke
- Do not get adequate rest and sleep (besides the work related night shift and swing shift)
- Are overweight
- Complain about the long hours they work
- Voice frustration about not having enough family time
- Verbalize feeling that you are unappreciated
The list goes on. What other behaviors can you think of?
I’ve shared before about an activity I love to do with nurses. It helps them to see the lack of balance in their lives. I ask them to share something unique about themselves that has nothing to do with work or nursing. The responses that are often shared are that all they do is work, then go home, go to bed, and return to work the next day. Many of these nurses work long shifts, put in extra hours, and work on their days off. When they are pressured to name one unique thing, it is often necessary to restate the request and help them recall something they use to enjoy that made them unique. Because we are a predominately female profession, this work related issue is sometimes more evident in males because they see themselves as the breadwinner. They have even threated that this is their job/responsibility while the female is the caretaker at home.
I’m sure ANA will come up with some very creative and exciting things we can do to keep ourselves healthy. As mentioned above, adequate diet and exercise remains important. Exercise does not necessarily mean going to the gym and working out on the latest and greatest equipment. With all of the activity monitoring tools available on the market, one can simply ‘walk’. It gives you the stamina to engage in desired activities. Walking is also an excellent time to meditate and clear your brain so you can think more clearly. This can lead to improved problem-solving abilities. Finding time to spend with family and friends can also be rewarding because it takes your mind off of work. You might have to set some ground rules like saying we will not talk about work during this time. Date nights are reported as being good for relationships.
I am looking forward to ANA’s findings and will share some of them with you from time to time. I would also like to hear how you maintain balance and synergy in your life.