Working in healthcare is dangerous for your health, says Daniel Johnson, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Macon, GA. The profession is dangerous because of the enormity of the daily challenges staff face (e.g., the responsibility of caring for seriously ill people, lack of support, shift conflicts, resource constraints). These daily challenges can build up and affect resilience to stress and strain.

The daily challenges experienced by nurses can develop into stress, which has a negative effect on people’s health. However, if you develop skills of resiliency, it will lessen the effects of stress, says Johnson

Skill #1: Take responsibility for a positive attitude

Each of us is responsible for our life experiences, says Johnson, and life experiences happen in the following three stages:

• Life acts (i.e., something happens)
• You think and interpret
• You react

It is step two that is most crucial to the amount of stress we feel, says Johnson. We all run our life through an attitude, he says. We all have an attitude, whether good or bad, and we all have the ability to choose our attitude. It is this attitude that affects what we feel.

Johnson uses the example of a boss telling a staff member that the report he or she just turned in is missing important information. The staff member interprets the conversation as a criticism, and this makes him angry. He reports to a coworker, “My boss made me angry.”

Johnson contends that no one can make us angry. The above example was defined when the staff member thought about what his boss told him, then chose to interpret it as a criticism, and chose to become angry.

Skill #2: Recognize and eliminate stress

Life is stressful and always will be, says Johnson. But too much stress causes our bodies to react negatively (e.g., with increased muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure).
“The simple solution is to learn to relax,” Johnson says. Find ways to provide an outlet for stress (e.g., through meditation, yoga, exercise, or relaxation exercises). Stress relief allows the body to return to normal.

Everyone needs to find the stress relief that works for them and practice it every day, says Johnson.

Skill #3: Learn to enjoy life

We all have the capability to be resilient to the challenges of life, but we may not protect our resiliency, says Johnson. When our supply of energy runs out, we are susceptible to burnout and depression.

Johnson recommends making a list of all the things you like to do. Write down as many things as they can think of in a minute or two. Then ask them to put a check mark next to those things that you have done in the past week.

If you have done little for fun recently, you are in danger of burning out and are displaying little resiliency for stress.

“Say yes to something,” he says. “If you like films, accept an invitation to go to a movie, even though you don’t feel like going out. You’ll almost certainly enjoy yourself and be glad you went out.”

Editor’s note: For more strategies on dealing with stress and relaxation techniques, visit Johnson’s Web site at www.lessonsforliving.com.