Essay Sample on New Nurse's Challenges: Overcoming Stress in First Year of Work

Introduction

As always, nursing is a very demanding and intense job that requires dedication and teamwork to ensure the goal of caring for others is obtained. In my first year of working as a nurse, I was subjected to different forms of stress, emanating from one of the team members especially during the change in shifts. During my first day, I handed over my report and expressed my concerns about the maximum dosage of inotropics that was not yet sufficient in maintaining the normal blood pressure of the patients. However, the nurse who was to replace my shift interrupted harshly inquiring why the weight of the patient was not documented, despite being a minor issue. Luckily enough, the senior team lead was present during the scene, and immediately replaced me with another team, which I worked with throughout the department.

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Signs of Bullying in Nursing

As always, a nurse bully is almost present in every team of the nursing workplace, which eventually plays a different role in the entire team, causing the nursing spirit for the whole team to drop. Every year, nurses across the globe are forced to leave their work because of increased workplace bullying, a step that creates unnecessary burnout and stress among the nursing team. Even though the workplace bullying is an illegal act, fewer workplace bully, are deemed to be right by the mismanagement, yet their bizarre ideas are far from being essential in the workplace.

For instance, distinctive common signs may depict a bullying nurse in the entire team. Unrealistic critics and unnecessary attention has been one of the typical visible signs, especially towards the change of a shift endorsement. Over criticizing a colleague degrades confidence and self-belief of a person, hence making them feel inferior and unworthy in the team.

Secondly, nurse isolation is a common sign of bullying at the workplace, as one nurse is deliberately isolated from meetings, social events, and endorsements, which indicates a classic example of bullying. The side effects of such behavior lead to the bullied nurse feeling as if she is not part of the team, hence leading to lower productivity, and participation in healthcare programs, leading to an immediate resignation (Keller, Budin, & Allie, 2016).

Lastly, bullying in nursing causes lower productivity, and concentration of the bullied nurse into the team. The suffering endured by the bullied nurse plays a negative role in her career, as she has to fight against negative attitudes with her colleagues. As a result, one may be subjected to common mistakes, due to the intense amount of stress, building up from the confrontations of the bullying nurse.

Common Stressors in The Nursing Workplace

In the nursing department, stress is a common phenomenon that nurses have t endure throughout their careers. Some of the nurses in the united states have already mastered the common causes of stress and how they affect their working schedules daily. The leading cause of stress in nursing in many countries is teamwork in nursing (Bambi, Guazzini, Piredda, Lucchini, De Marinis, & Rasero, 2019). There is immense pressure in working as a team. On the contrary, working as a team is challenging, especially where a nurse is a victim of nursing bullying, one has to take their action with great care, and counterchecking their working domain to reduce the possibilities of scolding, and critics.

The innate desire of nurses to put others before them is a driving spirit that has defined the calling of many nurses, as they sacrifice their precious time and opportunities to help others recover. Never the less, this is one of the leading factors that has critically increased the level of stress to nurses, due to excessive burnout at their workplace, leading to nurses having poor decisions, which may be catastrophic for both them and the patients.

Strategies to Manage Personal and Professional Stress

Stress is fatal, if not properly managed, which requires a critical approach towards handling and managing stress in the nursing profession (Karatza, Zyga, Tziaferi, & Prezerakos, 2016). A simple way to manage stress is attained by identifying the real causes and sources of stress. Stress sources may be at home or even at the workplace. After the identification of the origins of stress, one has to take a break from the sources, despite the magnitude of the source in our life. Through this, one can reflect on where they are going wrong and help rectify the situation.

Lastly, stress is managed through sharing and socializing with trusted team members or friends. Every cause of stress may have a direct or indirect solution, which is essential in sharing the situation with friends to help identify the possible solution for the current situation.

References

Bambi, S., Guazzini, A., Piredda, M., Lucchini, A., De Marinis, M. G., & Rasero, L. (2019). Negative interactions among nurses: an explorative study on lateral violence and bullying in nursing work settings. Journal of nursing management, 27(4), 749-757.https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12738

Karatza, C., Zyga, S., Tziaferi, S., & Prezerakos, P. (2016). Workplace bullying and general health status among the nursing staff of Greek public hospitals. Annals of general psychiatry, 15(1), 7.doi: 10.1186/s12991-016-0097-z

Keller, R., Budin, W. C., & Allie, T. (2016). A task force to address bullying. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 116(2), 52-58. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000480497.63846.d0