Battling Burnout: Self-Care Strategies for Nurses

The nursing profession faces a crisis that rarely makes headlines but affects nearly every healthcare worker: burnout. With alarming numbers of nurses leaving bedside care within just five years, we tackle the critical question of sustainability in a career meant to span decades.<br><br>Stress and burnout might seem like synonyms in healthcare, but they represent different points on a dangerous continuum. We explore the subtle warning signs that appear long before you reach your breaking point - those moments when you're unusually exhausted after a normal shift, finding yourself snapping at colleagues, or losing sleep thinking about work. By recognizing these early signals, you can intervene before reaching the dreaded "I can't do this anymore" moment.<br><br>What makes this conversation particularly revealing is our examination of generational differences in approaching work-life balance. While older healthcare professionals might pride themselves on working through breaks and staying late, younger nurses often establish firmer boundaries around their time and energy. Rather than viewing this as a weakness, we consider whether this approach might actually support longer, more sustainable careers in healthcare.<br><br>The heart of our discussion centers on practical, accessible self-care strategies that fit into a nurse's demanding life. From the restorative power of a simple bathroom break during a chaotic shift to the science behind contrast therapy (alternating sauna and cold plunge), we share evidence-based techniques for managing stress. We explore how nutrition, sleep hygiene, and community connections form the foundation of resilience in healthcare work.<br><br>Technology offers both challenges and solutions in the battle against burnout. While social media can drain your mental reserves, tools like stress-tracking wearables provide valuable insights into your body's response to workplace pressure. Most importantly, we highlight mental health resources available to nurses in crisis, emphasizing that seeking help isn't weakness—it's professional self-awareness.<br><br>Join us for this honest conversation about protecting your wellbeing in a profession dedicated to caring for others. Because remember: you can't pour from an empty cup, and your mental health matters just as much as the patients you serve.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Nursing Life 101, the most important
nursing class you never got totake in nursing school.
We will be traversing differentobjectives, like interviewing
what to do in nursing school,boundaries burnout and so much
more, if this interests you.
I hope you are taking goodnotes because class is now in
session.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hello and welcome to another episode of Nursing Life
101.
I'm Christopher, and joining me, as always, is Colby.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Hey guys, we're excited to tackle this important
topic on self-care and mentalhealth for nurses.
It's something we all need butoften struggle to prioritize, so
let's break down somestrategies to help us recharge
and stay resilient.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I think the first thing we probably need to
distinguish is what is stress?
And then how does that presentinto nursing, specifically
burnout for nurses.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, I think stress and burnout are kind of like
synonyms in healthcare.
I mean, if you think about it,burnout are kind of like
synonyms in healthcare if I mean, if you think about it, they
can be used interchangeably,okay, I?
Mean, yes, I think it's, butit's like burnout's, like
another level.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I mean stress, and stress
can be negative or positive,right, right, and, and that's
why it's good to.
I mean there, is youimmediately going back to
working out, you stress yourbody out a little bit to get a
muscle gain or endurance gain,or you do puzzles to get mental

(01:57):
clarity, mental gain, like thoseare little stresses that are
positive.
Positive and in terms ofnursing.
If you are actually honed inand in a stressful situation,
your adrenaline increases, youcan do more, and so stress is
good at some point but we'rehere to talk about when the

(02:19):
stress gets bad and the impactof impacts of and so when does
that?
when does it get to the pointwhere it's bad?

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Well, personally no, just kidding I think universally
, though.
I think what you know.
When stress is getting bad,when you're dreading going to
work, you're like your alarmgoes off and you're I cannot do
this today we're approachingburnout.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Is that really?
Is that a good?

Speaker 3 (02:56):
Christopher, you're honestly I should have done.
I think that's not the onlysign.
No, what are you thinking?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, I mean, that's not the only sign.
No, what are you?

Speaker 3 (03:05):
thinking well, I mean also this wait, I'm gonna
interject because I need tofinish this thought.
I should have recorded thispodcast with someone else,
because your levels of toleranceand how the ringer that you put
your own body and brain throughis through a much different

(03:25):
lens than the average humanbeing, and so I feel like
anything I say you're like,you're weak.
Is that your breaking point?
That's it.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
I feel like, by the point, you're dreading to go to
work.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
You're in burnout Too late.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Like the early signs of stress.
Yeah, I mean, that's my day today.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
But is that good?
That's what we're trying tofigure out, right Like this is.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, no, it's not good.
I'll tell you, yeah, it's notgood, but is that the inherent
condition of working in healthcare?
Hmm, so, hmm, so that yeahtricky question, right, should
it be?

Speaker 2 (04:10):
Second tricky question?
Oh, I mean, and I really andtruly okay, we say healthcare,
stress is done in any type ofwork, but there's a point where
dreading to go to work or even,I think, before that is you've
noticed you're more tired whenyou come from work.
You haven't.
You didn't wake up and it waslike, oh man, I have to go to

(04:30):
work, but you're getting backfrom home or back from work and
you're like it was a normalassignment, but I'm exhausted.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Right, mentally, physically, emotionally empty,
like I'm on E Right.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
And I feel like that, that is even before the whole.
I'm waking up and dreading togo to work, because then you're
like the reason why you'redreading to go to work is
because you're like I'm alreadyexhausted.
I know this is only a crap daybecause I had I was here
yesterday and I had xyzyesterday and we like continuity
of care, so I'm probably nothave XYZ today and I didn't say

(05:08):
anything.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
So I definitely don't have them.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
And I just feel like there's, but I don't, I don't
even know how to.
I'm not the right person forthis particular topic.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
I'm not the right person for this particular topic
but I don't even know what topin before being exhausted more
than normal.
I think it's really hardbecause, again, it's kind of
like the inherent atmosphere ofworking in healthcare.
It's so like day-to-day you canfeel stressed and you're doing
things that make you feelstressed and then it creeps up

(05:46):
on you because you're thinkingthis is just how it is, this is
how working in this environmentis, and you don't have many good
days, but when you do, theyfill your tank back up, but it's
so.
Then the burnout sneaks up onyou All of a sudden.
Like I said, you wake up onemorning.
You're like I can't freaking dothis today.

(06:07):
And it's really hard torecognize as health caregivers
because we are just the type ofpeople that give and give and
give and we don't often get alot of get the opportunity to
receive it's very much so athankless job.
Many days not always and thedays that we do have patients

(06:28):
that are so freaking great andlike they, literally all they
have to say is thank you andyou're like, wow, I have the
sweetest patient in 7B.
Let me tell you, isn't that sosad that?
Like someone just beingcourteous, someone that shows
that they respect the care thatyou're giving, they're

(06:49):
appreciative of the care you'regiving, like one person fills
your tank up because you have somuch of the opposite of that in
your day and that becomes sonormal to you.
That's sad and that's thereality though.
That's sad and that's thereality, though, and that's why

(07:10):
so many I mean burnout peoplesuffer from burnout across the
board in all kinds of differentsubjects and specialties and and
career paths, not even just inhealth care, in the medical
field, but that is somethingthat is universally felt in
health care, though.
I don't think I've ever metanybody that has more than five

(07:31):
years, that hasn't more thanfive years experience, that
hasn't felt burnt out or hasactually had burnout at one
point in their career.
And that's only five years.
If you think about it, like wein the US work until we're in
our 70s these days and like,okay, so you start your job when
you know, let's say, you go toa school, you get a four-year

(07:53):
degree, you're 21 when you startand then you work into your 70s
, 50 years, and, like you'refive, you're feeling burnt out.
Yeah, that's crazy yeah, yeahand wow right yeah and then, and

(08:18):
that's why we see health careworkers leaving the bedside in
droves.
That's why we don't haveanybody at the bedside with more
than five years of experienceanymore, because we can't do it
anymore.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
And but what does it?
I mean, you've been here longerthan five years, so At some
point we will get to it.
You have found a way to.
At some point we will get to it.
You have found a way to reducethe stress buildup, I guess, and

(08:52):
it is.
It's like the way that stressand burnout kind of presents it,
or how it happens is you have acandle wick and you're burning
it from one in, hopefully, butthen there's some of you that
will pick up an extra job, oryou have a full family at home

(09:12):
that you have to take care of.
You know that's simple.
Yeah, I mean simple in terms oflike I didn't even think about
that.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
I know I thought about it before we started
recording.
I was thinking about, like,what we should consider and I
was like it's kind of funnybecause christopher and I are
both single.
We don't we're not, we don'thave like partners right now.
This is so sad.
We don't partners.
It's just us and our dog, ourdogs, like me and my dog, him
and his dog and our shared dog,and like we, like I.

(09:48):
And then I was thinking, likemy co-workers who are moms and
dads and have full families,that they work a 12 hour shift,
go home, they have to bring kidsto practice, they have to cook
meals and prep for, you know,the next day, and they have, you
know, they have a communityaround them that they have to
like figure out who's takingwhat kid where and who's
babysitting Like.
I can't imagine taking that onon top of what I deal with day

(10:13):
to day.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah, I was precepting someone recently and
they are a mom and have twochildren and um, they came and
they, they worked on what theyworked on their birthday because
they had, because I wasn'tpaying attention, and scheduled
them to precept with me on theday that they were born, right,
so I'm a terrible.

(10:34):
Y'all can blast me in thecomments already.
So her son had a baseball gameand her daughter had a recital
and she was missing it all thatday because I was precepting for
her.
That in and of itself is a goodstress added because she's

(11:02):
missing my family.
Rarely missed a baseball game,yeah, and then rarely missed my
brother pole vaulting yeah, itwas constantly on the weekends.
We would go on the weekdays wewould go, yeah, during the
summer we would go like that was.
That was a thing when.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
It's a lot to miss out on.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
It is.
But.
But also I remember when I wasin nursing school.
I worked a fulltime job and wasin nursing school and then had
to take care of myself too, butfor some reason I did it and I
was like Mom how did you do thatwith two children that were

(11:42):
active?

Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
In not only sports but in clubs and stuff like that
yeah, active yeah and not onlysports.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
But in clubs, yeah, stuff like that, yeah, so like,
so, yeah, to bring it back, it'slike we have these amazing
human beings who are doing somuch maintaining their, their
careers and their families athome, and like that's just
scratching the surface, likethat, like you said, simple,
it's like that's the basics andlike that's not even considering
what else might be going onwith them individually, and like

(12:08):
and then what's happening atwork?

Speaker 2 (12:10):
It's crazy just makes a very bad combination.
That can be pretty problematic.
And when you start to recognizethat you are being stressed and

(12:33):
you are going to accumulatethat stress to the point where
you're not emptying yourself ofor, excuse me, you are emptying
yourself and not fillingyourself up, like, how do you?
How do you step back?
How do you start to pull backthe reins?

Speaker 3 (12:52):
yeah, I think it's really hard, especially for
someone who maybe isn't like, orI wasn't gonna that's not
really what I want to say.
I would say it's really hardfor someone who's probably lucky
, lucky enough to not reallyrecognize.
I would say it's really hardfor someone who's probably lucky
enough to not really recognizethat they might be struggling
because they didn't haveanything like anxiety or
anything like that in their pastmedical history.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
So I think, like you're at a disadvantage, and
sometimes it takes like gettingto a breaking point before you
realize it.
So I just want to clarify.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
It is those who have not had stress, yeah, or that
don't realize it, that they'regetting like the getting to of
of getting to that outside oflife and I'm doing too much at
work, and work has been reallystressful.
I notice that I'm snapping atco-worker or I notice that I'm

(14:17):
not sleeping.
Well, I'm thinking about workwhen I'm at home.
These are all little alerts orlike red flags that pop off in
my brain and I'm like, oh, Iknow why I'm so upset, like I
just need to take a step backand I need to focus on more
positive energy for myself.
So for me that means what am Ieating?

(14:37):
What have I been doing?
So I kind of like take anassessment of what I've been
doing.
So, if I've been eating a bunchof junk food, maybe having one
too many drinks too frequently,if I stopped going to the gym
and I haven't, you know, hadn'tworked out at all that week or
the last couple of weeks, am Iprioritizing like fun time with
friends and family to like blowoff steam?

(15:01):
So I take an assessment of, likewhat I've been doing and when I
do, I notice a pattern.
I'm doing all the things that Ijust listed, like I'm not
hanging out with my friends, I'mbeing a hermit, I'm not working
out, I'm not eating right, I'mprobably drinking too much, you
know, or whatever.
And then I'm like, okay, well,what works for me?

(15:22):
What has worked for me in thepast?
When am I happy and feelinggood?
I'm prioritizing my health andtaking care of my body, I'm
spending time with my friends,like I said, I'm learning a new
hobby or, you know, just beingout in nature works for me.
So I think having had theseissues in the past gives you an

(15:42):
advantage because hopefully youlearn from that and you know
what works for you in order tokind of get you out of that,
that state of mind, that funk.
I think someone who's nevergone through that will have will
have a harder time recognizingwhen their levels of stress have

(16:02):
maxed out.

Speaker 2 (16:04):
So stress, from what I'm kind of deducing from what
you're saying, stress is notvery much like pain tolerance.
The more you've been in pain,the higher pain tolerance you
have, so the less you recognizeit.
But someone who has never hadpain, they would easily

(16:25):
recognize pain.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
I think it's a really difficult thing to make an
analogy of because it's, I think, like pain, like everybody's
scale is interpreted differentlyso it's hard to compare it to
that.
And also, I mean I'm onlytalking from personal, personal
experience whereas, like, maybesomeone who has had a lot of

(16:48):
stress in their life and has hadanxiety or depression or
something like that, maybe theywouldn't share the same idea as
I.
Whereas, like, having had thosethings and having to work on
those things, maybe they don'tshare the fact that, like,
having that history and thatexperience wouldn't positively,
uh, affect them and noticingthese changes in themselves,

(17:12):
with their stress levels andwork and getting leaning towards
burnout okay, I get, I get youcan't, in that you make that
firm analogy, but like do you doyou feel like we as a, what are
we?

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Are we millennials?

Speaker 3 (17:29):
We are.
We are millennials.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
OK, we as millennials have a different work ethic
than those that.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
You're so right and this is so crazy.
I've seen so much stuff onsocial media about this.
You're right.

Speaker 2 (17:45):
You just want to leave it there, oh do you want
me to elaborate?

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Okay, so like what's the?
So Gen Y is actually us, alsoknown as millennials, and those
individuals are generally bornin the early 1980s to the mid
1990s.
Gen X is 1965 to 1980, and thenthere's Gen Z, which is 1996 to
2012.

(18:10):
So the stuff that I've seen,the generalizations on social
media that I've seen in the past, say that like the, and they
compare it to man, managerial,um styles.
I guess is what you, what you'dsay, that I've seen it's like
gen x, who's like the oldergeneration right 65 to 80, are

(18:32):
very like work themselves to thebone.
There's no boundary with theirtime.
They will stay and finish aproject, even if that means that
they're staying till 11 o'clockat night.
They're there and they don'tunderstand why.
Millennials, or Gen Y, which isus, 81 to 95-ish, we work really

(19:00):
hard.
We do, but we also respectpeople's boundaries and it's
like a small shift.
And then the comparison thatI'm seeing is Gen Z, where they
just don't give a shit andthey're like my time is my time,
I can't be bothered.
So like I work seven to three,I'm done at three, don't talk to
me at 301.
Whereas a millennial would belike I'll stay till four.
That's fine, we'll get it done.
Not a big deal, but my PTO isin for next week and I'm not
going to look at my email Likethat's.

(19:23):
That's like a good comparisonbetween the two and I think with
that you'll see people'stolerance Like we're talking
about tolerance of stress andand the point where it takes one
person to feel burnout versusanother.
You'll see someone in Gen X whowe still work with, people
obviously in the 65 to 1980sbirth range.

(19:44):
They're still out there workingand they're like you weaklings,
like what are you talking about?
Like get tough and they don't,and they're still feeling the
same amount of stress aseveryone else, but they don't
recognize that they don't haveto.
Maybe is what I'm kind ofputting together here or they

(20:06):
just retire and good for them.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
But I feel like I'm in the mindset of Gen Xs.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
I think it also might be like how the style of how we
were raised and how our parentswere too, because how old were
your parents when you were born?
I don't know they were late 20slate 20s, okay, and then my mom
was 19, so I feel like I feellike I was, I was raised by like

(20:38):
a later gen x.
You were raised by an older genx.
I think that also kind of,because like that also kind of
plays in into it as well, if youthink about it, because like
the, the generation before gen x, was even more of like a strong
workhorse human being in the us.

(20:59):
It was like pull yourself up byyour bootstraps and like put it
, put in work and so like.
So that means like theirparents were like that.
So then when you get furtherdown the line, it just like
what's the word I'm looking for?
It?
Just kind of like, kind oftrickles, yeah, it kind of yeah,
but like just smaller andsmaller amounts of that.
And so now we're at gen z, whoare like by time is my time,

(21:22):
which is good for them.
Honestly, I wish I could, but Icould never sorry, I shouldn't
say that you shouldn't.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
I shouldn't say that you shouldn't.
I shouldn't say that, but then.
So the reason why I even saidall of that was because a Gen X,

(21:50):
y, z would say their stresslevel right, you're showing your
judgment, I am not showing myjudgment.
It is an observation that Ihave noticed.
Okay.
And they do Schools.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
now they are teaching students to protect themselves
to a larger extent becausethey're worried about complaints
or the possible lawsuit,because a student went to
clinical in in the winter, forwhen there was winter
precipitation, they, theystopped.
That's also very muchregionally, though, coming.
So you, you've only lived where, where you live, where we live
in the general area.
I come from a much differentarea, whereas, like when it
comes to weather things, ha haha, they laugh in the face of

(22:59):
danger.
We don't care that there wasthree feet overnight.
You can walk to clinical, we'llsee you there.

Speaker 2 (23:05):
But also the.
The department oftransportation is usually a
little bit more equipped orbetter, better.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Better equipped or like better this is about to
sound like really old, but likeI walked to clinical in waist,
deep snow, not plowed, not evenattempted to, and they're like
you.
Better be there on time well, Ithink that so I think I do
think, like there's some.

(23:36):
That's a good example, thoughwhat you're sharing, like I see
what you're saying it'sinstilling.
I do agree with the statementof they're so, and this is like
in every aspect of the world somuch fear of being sued that
people placate and then, becausethat's a well-known fact that
like literally everyone isafraid of being sued, people use

(23:58):
that to their advantage to doless.
That's what you're trying tosay.
Yeah, people use that to theiradvantage to do less that is the
managerial statement I waslooking for.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I can't believe I nailed that.
You nailed it.
Yes, so, but with all that youknow, yes, we are Gen Y
millennials.
But recognizing your stress inthe midst of Colby said, in the
midst of Colby said, you'restarting to snap a little bit

(24:32):
more at a patient or a co-worker.
You don't sleep well, you startto dread going to work, you're
exhausted more when you're atwork.
You have the friends that youhave and you've noticed that

(24:54):
even at work, when you'rehanging out with the, the
co-worker friend group that youusually hang out with, you don't
really enjoy like they.
They start to annoy you a littlebit.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
Yeah, you're not vibing not vibing.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
those are things that you start to realize that it's
like, okay, I'm getting to thepoint where I need to step back
and Colby has, you know, found away to sit back and analyze
what?
And Colby's introspective shedoes this and I feel like nurses
are very good at assessing.
You know, this is what we do,it's one of our wonderful skill

(25:25):
sets.
You need to assess yourprevious six months and see what
has changed.
And if you and remember whatyour hobbies are, find your
hobbies Like, if you we've saidthis before get in, get in a
Facebook group, search in thesearch bar and, you know, say

(25:51):
whatever you might be interestedin dancing yeah my state, you
know, like something like that,and so that you can there's
avenues for you to to de-stressand relax.
So we wanted to like hit some ofthose.
There's physical, emotional andlike, um, well, and depending

(26:12):
on your take spiritual self-caretechniques that you can kind of
experience, and what are?
What are some that you like goto in your mind, like, what do
you think of?

Speaker 3 (26:26):
yeah, for physical.
Like I said, I think nutritionand exercise are something that,
as health care workers andwe've talked about this in the
past is so easy to fall throughthe cracks because we spend so
much time giving to others andwe don't remember to give back
to ourselves and go ahead.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
Do you feel like you should exercise before or after
a shift?

Speaker 3 (26:48):
I think I, so I also thought about this before we
started recording.
I think if you are able to andyou fit it in your schedule and
it feels good and it doesn'tfeel like it's adding to your
stress, then that's lovely andyou should do it.
Personally, I've had periods inmy life where I was like I
don't know, I feel like I waspsycho and I was like waking up
far too early and I was workingout, but I felt good and it was

(27:10):
good for me at that time.
Now it it feels like a burdenfor me to try and achieve, like
a workout before work and like alot of times after work.
Anything more than just like anice long walk with my dog feels
like a burden as well.
So I don't put that stress onmyself.
But if it's something thathelps with your decompression

(27:32):
after work is just go straightto the gym and like get it in,
then that's great.
So I think if it's, it's veryindividual.
If that works for you, that'sgreat, and I don't and, like I
said, like for me personally, Ithink going on a long walk is
more than enough.
I think like it's just one.

(27:52):
You're outside with nature andI think that's so restorative
for most people.
So you're walking outside,you're getting fresh air If it's
in the summertime you'regetting some sunlight in, which
is so important when you'restuck behind those cinder block
walls for so long on a 13-hourshift and you're moving your

(28:12):
body.
I mean not that we're notmoving our bodies on shift, but
it's like I said, it's more thanjust moving your body.
It's restorative just beingoutside and being in nature.
So I think, like I said, it'sjust very individual and
whatever works for you.
But I also, in addition to thephysical exercise, nutrition is

(28:34):
so important and I know we'vetouched on that as well in the
past.
We talked about meal preppingand how important it is to like
put good things in your body.
It just, it just is facts, likeif you're eating good food,
your body is happy, it'sperforming at an elite level.
When you're eating bad food,you're sluggish, you have
headaches, like.

(28:54):
We've all seen the Super SizeMe documentary, which I now
realize.
Oh my God, you've never seenthat.
Okay, well, that's a sidebar,but I know it's kind of debunked
because the guy was like analcoholic, so there's a lot of
lore behind that.
But I think like the sentiment,the sentiment that like eating
that food is going to dohorrible things to your body is
still true, and I think whenwe're so busy and we're burnt

(29:18):
out, sometimes like the quickfix of going through the drive
through is like your answer backand you're like oh, I went to
McDonald's after every shiftthis week.
I got a cheeseburger, frenchfries and a huge Mountain Dew or
Coke, and then, to top it off,I ate pretzels in my bed until I

(29:41):
fell asleep, like you're notdoing yourself or your body any
favors in doing that.
Meal prepping is so importantIf you can do it.
The at-home meal kits like BlueApron and Hello Fresh and all
that stuff like Purple Carrot ifyou're vegan, is a great option
and we're not sponsored, but weshould be Making it as easy for

(30:08):
yourself as you can is soimportant because when you're
like I said, you're putting badfood in your body.
You're not helping yourself,you're literally destroying your
body.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, and it's funny, sleep is important too.
Yes, you know, and because Idon't do it, but like I've also,
I know the limits that I haveand I can you push the limits?

Speaker 3 (30:32):
I have and I can you push the limits?

Speaker 2 (30:34):
I compensate in different ways.
Naps.

Speaker 3 (30:42):
No, you don't really nap.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
But I do find restorative ways in like the
more mental, emotional care,like I don't journal but, you
know, just really spending timewith the friends that I actually
have, because you know I'm veryI am an introvert and that's
totally fine for you to be one.
But finding those, thatclose-knit group of friends that

(31:10):
is going to help challenge you,you, but also give you that
restorative time to, you know,be introspective and think about
what your day went through andwhy you're feeling the way you
do and um, and that's importantto just be self-aware yeah even

(31:30):
just to like spend time withyour community, and that's
something we're.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
Another thing we're pretty passionate about as two
people of is blue zones andthere's like multiple pillars
that make up what a blue zone is, and one of those things is
community, and it's it like youcan be an introvert but you
should still spend time withyour friends.
It's just so friends, family,like whatever.

(31:54):
It's just so important andhaving a long and healthy life.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
You know it's going to the like spiritual aspect.
You know if you are a Christiangoing to church and you know
that is, that is also acommunity.
That's community.
Yeah Right, that is a group ofbelievers that have come
together to celebrate theresurrection power of Jesus
Christ.
If you're a Buddhist, going toyour community of believers and

(32:28):
just spending time with them.

Speaker 3 (32:31):
if you're Muslim, of believers and just spending time
with them.
If you're muscled, like, yeah,all of those options are there
for you and you should lean intothat.
If that's something that youhold, um, like close to your
heart, I also feel like, evenlike separate from like a
religious thing, like and thisgoes back to physical exercise
but like for me, like going to aworkout class, like I, I love,
I love going to wednesdaymorning Pilates where

(32:53):
Christopher and I go and it'susually like the few of the same
couple of people that always goWednesday mornings and like
that's my Wednesday morningcommunity.
Like we laugh and giggle ateach other and we like give our
instructor a hard time and sheloves it and we love it, and
like that's fun.
You leave out out there one,you have a good workout, but you
feel like you spent time with,like you know, good people and

(33:13):
you enjoyed yourself.
I mean maybe not the whole timewhere you enjoyed yourself.
You're probably trying,probably dying at some point,
but it's type two fun, which ismy favorite kind.
We touched you touched a littlebit on sleep hygiene.
I think that's so, so important.
I think in this day and age weare so glued to our phones, and
I say this firsthand because Ido it from time to time and then

(33:36):
I have to check myself whereI'm just doom, scrolling in bed.
I'll get into bed and I'm readyto go and I go to turn my alarm
on and my ADD kicks in and thenall of a sudden I'm on
Instagram or TikTok and I'vebeen scrolling for two hours and
I'm like, oh my God, and thestudies behind blue work, night
for sure.
Phone is down and then I willeither read or I play like a

(34:18):
bedtime podcast and I fallasleep very quickly.
But I think it's so importantto like limit your screen time.
If you like a cold room, coldroom.
If you like a hot room, hotroom, which you're psychotic,
yeah, you're psychotic.
If you want to sleep in Satan'slair, but more power to you

(34:40):
Couldn't be us.
But yeah, I think you know.
You just need to put a fan on,you need noise, whatever.
I just think sleep hygiene is so, so, so deeply important and
not enough people take itseriously and I have so many
friends that are like, oh, Ijust can't sleep.
But then I'm like you weresending me memes at like one

(35:00):
o'clock in the morning.
Put your phone down.
I put my phone on do notdisturb at 930.
I have, I.
We joke about this a lot, but Ihave business hours on work and
like, especially on work nights.
Well, no, I have the luxury ofbeing a single person that
doesn't really have anyresponsibilities other than my
dog and then whatever I signmyself up for.

(35:20):
So on nights where I'm notworking, sometimes I stay up
later, and that's fine, that'smy prerogative.
But on work nights I havebusiness hours and we're closing
up shop at 930 and I'll takeyour calls tomorrow.
Calls and texts.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
I will make a bold statement and say for three
months, three months, get rid ofsocial media.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
That's a challenge and a half and I respect.
I respect the challenge.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
Get rid of it All of it.
Tiktok, snapchat, instagram, xslash, twitter, whatever it is,
facebook, all of it.
Get rid of it for three months.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
And see, just just see, how it helps your sleep,
because I can guarantee Helpsoverall.
Not but just your sleep.
Sure, I'm just talking aboutthe sleep.
I I'll let them experience thebenefits later of the other
things.

Speaker 3 (36:18):
But honestly, three months is a long time.
But if you do want to do thischallenge, I suggest two weeks.
Start with two weeks and whenthe first two weeks are done,
you're gonna be like I can dotwo more weeks well, I'm gonna
be honest, the reason why I saidthree months.
It takes about that long tobuild a good habit To build a
good habit.
Yes, I will say, though, likeyou think my number was right

(36:41):
yeah, we both read Atomic Habits.
I will say that, like thatsounds absolutely insane, but I
have slowly started deleting myapps.
I'm it's.
It's an addiction, fully, Iwill admit, it's fully an
addiction, and it's such an easyway to step out, like, and this

(37:03):
is like not the healthiestcoping mechanism, but it is one
for for burnout, like it's.
You just get sucked into thatand you can remove yourself from
reality and you're like what'sactually going on now?
Is that actually helping you inthe long term?
No, that's true.
I'm just saying this is whatpeople do myself and this is my

(37:23):
argument against it and I agreewith you.
But like I deleted tiktok frommy phone yeah, I got rid of
tiktok and like I hardly ever goon it.
Now, the only time I go onTikTok is if a friend sends me
one and I watch it, and then Iwill certainly get stuck in a
TikTok hole, but I don't golooking for it.
But that doesn't mean I'm noton Instagram.

(37:44):
I am on Instagram, so it's likethe same thing and I really
need to give that up.
But again we are digressing.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
No, I believe, because I don't know.
I don't have them.
So this is coming from someonewho is pretty ignorant in terms
of majority of what you feel,but I feel what I feel like,
where I have observed thatpeople believe their friends are

(38:10):
on their social medias Some are, but your true friends are the
ones that actually have yournumber and are going to text you
and actually come to you whenyou need something, and I don't
wish this on anyone, but I letsomething bad happen to you.

(38:30):
I guarantee you a good 75% ofthose people that you have
friends on whatever social media.
They don't care.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
Yeah, I think it's just, it's an observing thing,
it's a very weird.
Social media is very weird andI don't think I don't really
think that it provides as muchpositivity as it was intended to
or maybe did at one point.
I think now that where we arein the world, it brings a lot
different, a lot differentthings to the table than it used

(39:01):
to.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
So mind your social media intake.
I think that you know thatcould be a really good piece of
advice as well.
You know that could be a reallygood piece of advice as well.
If you're feeling more stress,be mindful, because it brings in
like inherent judgment and likeyou feel judged.
You're judging yourself againstpeers or others and that's not
going to really help yoursituation.

(39:26):
I think some practical tips forsqueezing in self-care into an
already jam-packed schedule canstart very small, and I think
you know some of these thingsthat we listed seem like big
things to tackle, but some ofthem are really easy, like the
sleep hygiene, I think,stressful moments in work.

(39:47):
So what are some ways we canstay grounded during a tough
shift?
Like you know, in the moment,we're going to have many
stressful moments throughout ourshift hopefully few on a good
day, but the reality is thatthere's probably going to be
more than one and it's going tobe overwhelming.
There's going to be days whereyou're like I could cry right
now, or I am crying right now,and what?

(40:08):
What should you do in themoment?
I'm crying right now and whatshould you do in the moment?
My first, go into the bathroom,because that's the only place
you're going to find even asecond of peace and take some
deep breaths, like literally,that's so simple and you can do
that, like you can get to thebathroom.

(40:29):
No one's going to stop you fromgetting there and I think it's
so important to just get inthere so you can have two
seconds of being by yourself,because the alarms the constant
phone ringing, patient callbells, bed alarms, tele alarms
Go into the bathroom.
Close your eyes, take a fewdeep breaths.

(40:49):
There's a lot of things in thebathroom that can help, kind of
ground you, turn the water on.
It's cold.
Put your hands in the water,feel the cold, recognize like
just bring it down to like whatyou're doing in that moment.
It really just resets yourclock, like resets your clock,
resets your body, kind of likefocusing down, grounding

(41:12):
yourself.
Then it's what's most widelyavailable to you in any
situation.
That's my tip.
What would you share?

Speaker 2 (41:22):
That's interesting.
I definitely don't have one.

Speaker 3 (41:30):
Mini bricks are so important.
One of my friends, she willleave the unit and just go for a
walk.
She checks in with me.
She's like, hey, my patientsare all good, I'm just going to
do a quick loop.
She goes downstairs, does awalk around the lobby, walks to
the cabin, just to get off thefloor for a minute and she's
back within five minutes.

(41:51):
She's just getting off thefloor for a minute and she she's
back like within five minutes.
She's just getting off the unit, changing the scenery real
quick, coming right back, andthat works for her.
Kind of helps her like reset,refocus, ok, I'm back in.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
Right and I mean, but ultimately you have a 30 minute
break.

Speaker 3 (42:10):
Use your break.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Use it Like.
Use it.

Speaker 3 (42:16):
Shouting it from the rooftops.
It is so, so important, comingfrom two people that don't yeah,
but I also.
But it is important.

Speaker 2 (42:24):
Yeah, because I realized that it's important and
even if you're like man, I'vemissed my quote unquote lunch
hour If you don't want to eatbecause it's closer to dinner
still.

Speaker 1 (42:38):
Just get off the floor, get off the floor for 30
minutes.
At 530.

Speaker 3 (42:41):
Leave the unit Go leave, go, do something.

Speaker 2 (42:43):
I don't want to see you For 30 minutes.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
Yeah, I mean, that is government mandated, so no
excuses.

Speaker 2 (42:56):
Get out, get off the floor.

Speaker 3 (42:58):
Yeah, what do you do after work, after a really hard
shift like outside of work?

Speaker 2 (43:06):
Yeah, I mean most of the time I just come home.
I really am just not the rightperson for this conversation.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
No, because he's going to say I come home and I
do more work for my other job orfor my job or for my other job.
Christopher deals with beingstressed at one job with a
different job's stress.
That's okay.

(43:35):
No, that's not true.
Though At a particular, I'lltell you and we've already
mentioned these things like in aparticular challenging day,
like we get together, like meand you will get together and
we'll go and get food, like withsome of our other friends, like
we, you reach out to friends tohang out.
We're like, hey, what are youdoing?
Let's go get some food.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
Like today sucked, and then we do and it's fun,
especially since and we do havea little bit of a community
right now, because we all livevery, very close to each other
yeah, it's like friends yeahyeah, yeah literally it's like
friends.

Speaker 3 (44:10):
It's so fun.
I've never had, I mean, the TVshow.
Yeah, we all there's a bunch ofus that live in the same
community, like apartmentcomplex but also town and not
just complex and we see eachother and it's it's just fun to
see each other outside of work,but also know that, like if we
need anything, like oh, will youwalk my dog for me?

(44:32):
Oh, my package is downstairs,do you mind grabbing it so it
doesn't get stolen, like it'sjust like that, like having
having a community.
Again, we're going back to thesame thing we've already said,
but it's true is so importantand it's so good Knowing that
you have those people takestress off of you yeah, it does

(44:52):
it really does.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
And it goes back to what I was saying those are my
friends.
Yeah, the real friends not thesocial media guess what?
I don't have social media, likeI'm still okay, um, but yeah, I
I am one to reach out tofriends and be like hey, let's
go hang out A good drink, or soyou know I have never.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
Yeah, everything is fine in moderation, Right yeah,
what are your coping skills?

Speaker 2 (45:21):
I don't get blackout drunk.

Speaker 3 (45:22):
Yeah, no, a cocktail or two with friends is fine.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
You got to try the new seasonal menu of cocktail.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
Our favorite restaurant.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
There's nothing wrong with that.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
No, you know, during 75 hard I was a fan of getting
up and exercising before I don'tfeel work yeah, the first time
I did it I was, that's when Iwas working out before work and
I just like felt like a millionbucks.

Speaker 2 (45:47):
But when I tried it again I was like, oh, I cannot
do this this is too much, butalso and we're specifically just
after work because they'regoing to a baseball game, you
know like but I'm also one toliterally just lay down on a
ground outside and just watchclouds move, or when I'm walking

(46:11):
Roman.

Speaker 3 (46:12):
I love the stars.

Speaker 2 (46:16):
So, just like admiring the stars, I was
driving home one day and waslooking up at the sky and saw
this Starlink.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
Oh yeah, the Starlink thing.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
I thought we were being invaded by.

Speaker 3 (46:35):
He took it to the group chat and was like what is
this?

Speaker 2 (46:37):
I was like freaking out y'all.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
That was funny.
Yeah, I agree, I thinksometimes driving is very
restorative for me, like I thinkI do a lot of decompression
after work.
But yeah, I do think I thinkdriving is a really good time
for me to is very restorativeand decompress.
I I'm really good atcompartmentalization, almost to
my detriment, and so I oftenlike, as soon as I give report

(47:03):
and I walk out those doors, thehospital, you couldn't.
If you ask me the person's namethat's in room six, I couldn't
tell you.
I don't know.
I don't even know if they're amale or a female.
My brain just went blank and sothat's great.
But sometimes it's not so greatfor other life aspects and

(47:26):
sometimes, when I am holding onto my day and I'm thinking about
it, sometimes it's a positivething, sometimes it's a negative
thing.
Recently, because I'm so goodat compartmentalization, I
usually remember when I'm havingthese moments, when I'm
thinking about work on my wayhome because, like I said, that
doesn't usually happen for me,but I was thinking about it and

(47:47):
and it was actually all positivethings and I was reflecting on
my day and how it was a typicalbusy day in acute cardiology.
But we I was just like so happy, positively thinking about like
we had.
I worked with like a lot ofClin 1s that day.
There were like a few likeseasoned people on the floor,

(48:08):
but I was just like they wereall killing it.
My Clin 1s were doing so good,they were navigating difficult
situations and using theirresources but like doing a lot
independently and they're wellon their way to be Clin 2s and I
was just like I need to shoutthem out, like I was just like I
need to shout them out, like Iwas like I think that they we
just killed it today, like as ateam.

(48:29):
Like I got there that morning, Ifelt like I killed it as a
charge nurse.
I got there that morning.
Not a single patient had beenrounded on.
So we have to do likeleadership rounding and I went
and I talked to every singlepatient on the floor that day
that I could.
I think there was like ahandful of people that just
weren't in the room when I wasdoing it and they were giving us
so much positive feedback Likelike it was awesome to see, and

(48:52):
it was like, like I said, a lotof new grad nurses, clin 1
nurses, and they were just likewe love this person and this
person, these patients, aregiving me all these examples of
ways that they're going aboveand beyond, and I was just like
they like this is a good day,like and that that filled my
tank up.
So the actually like methinking about all the positive
things that happened at workthat day, like it filled my tank

(49:15):
up and I think it's soimportant for for you to do that
.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Yeah, and you know, just kind of a sidebar on
Shotting people out, it's NursesWeek, y'all.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
It is Nurses Week.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Congratulations on being a nurse, congratulations
on getting into nursing school,congratulations on making it
past the first semester.
Yeah, everything You're doing,the things, that's awesome.
Keep up the good work and thatis not a plug in any sense of
the word.
Like seriously, keep it up.

Speaker 3 (49:50):
Thank you and congratulations and good job and
good work and keep going.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
Yeah, I mean because this is hard and this is why
we're having these conversationsand, you know, sometimes even
as management.
Now, like finding that way toshout people out is difficult,
but that could also just helpstress.
Yeah.
You know, and trying to figureout a way to do that is

(50:15):
important too for those thatmight be a little bit more
seasoned and is in a leadershiprole, like you also should be
thinking about ways to shout outthose that are doing good work,
because they are doing goodwork and it's not easy.
All right, so our segment break.
So you know, we we brieflytalked about different

(50:37):
biohacking things, okay, but youhave now gotten an aura ring.
Yes, and it talks about stress.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
Yeah, and so I also have stress in my aura ring and
also my whoop, okay.
So I wanted to take a momentjust to talk about our different
stress, like moments.
Okay, have you recognized anymoment?

(51:09):
That is like midday?
You're usually more stressfulthan the other, or?

Speaker 3 (51:17):
you know, it's weird because I actually have spent
some time looking at mine and Ifeel like I'm always wondering,
like, like, what is thecorrelation?
Like, why am I having thesemoments of stress?
Like, why is it recording thatI'm stressed?
I will say, like when I'mworking out my body's under
stress, so I'll be in the stressspike area.

(51:37):
Which makes sense, which makestotal sense.
But then there's some dayswhere I'm just sitting on the
couch and I look at it and itand it's like you're stressed
right now and I'm like, why am Istressed?
But I think it's my anxietyfair, okay.
And I will also say, one day Ilooked at it right after we had
a code and I was like in funny,because it'll give you there's

(51:59):
four zones restored, being likeyour body is in a very, such a
chill moment that it's actuallylike reducing your stress, like
it's actually restoring youRelaxed, which is like you're
just chilling, engaged, and thenstress.
So my body, before the code wasin, relaxed.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
It was in, relaxed, I went straight to stress and and
then afterwards, like myadrenaline came down, I went
back to, I went engaged and thenrelaxed again do you think
you'll ever get to the pointwhere and maybe this not
specifically in a code, butyou'll be in the zone right and
kind of come back down to likeyou should be stressed, but

(52:44):
you're oh, but I'm still in thezone, but like my body is just
compensating, so much from likeyou're, I don't know, relaxed or
maybe even restored I don't.

Speaker 3 (52:55):
Well, I think that I don't know because, like in a
code, probably, no, never,because you're not always like,
you're never expecting a codelike you could have like an
inkling like, oh, this person'sreally sick, like it's making me
nervous, I need to.
You know the doctors aren'ttaking me serious and we need to
do this is in this.
But you can you never like, oh,this person's, this person's

(53:17):
going to code like I'm ready forit, like I don't even think an
ICU nurse can say it like in themic.
You could be like, yeah, I'mready for it.
Well, maybe they can, I don'tknow.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
But I can.
I'm getting pretty good at likehospice, hospice, deaths.
I can, I can use it yeah, thatdoesn't bother me.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
Yeah, like a hospice, when you when I don't have to
jump into action.
Yeah, for sure, I'm like okay,meanwhile, or pawpaw, it's time
for you to go and that's okay,yeah, and then you just try to,
you know, gently, let them go ascarefully as we can.
But I think that I don't thinkmy body will ever just be like
comfortable during a code andlike and I don't know.

(53:57):
I guess I've never really tried, but I it's weird because
mentally I go into the zone,which is weird.
That's why I was like, oh, she'sgonna actually be like in a
relaxed state but my heart, andI don't even notice it until
afterwards, like after we getroscoe, after they call it.
Then all of a sudden, my Ibecome aware of how my body

(54:19):
actually is and like I'll havelike shakes, not because like
it's not an emotional response,but it's just like I flip a
switch and I'm back out and I'mlike, oh, I just went through
something crazy.

Speaker 2 (54:35):
I don't know my body's weird trauma yeah, I mean
it's interesting to see thatand the way that aura does it is
it kind of monitors the heartrate and then also your movement
, right?

Speaker 3 (54:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:54):
So it kind of has an algorithm to kind of put it all
together.
Same thing with the whoop.
It monitors your heart rate andyour um, your movement, but it
doesn't have the four stages, itjust has low, medium and high
and it goes one to three and I,I don't know, I've noticed,
interestingly enough, it's likemid afternoon, it's not like

(55:19):
midday, it's mid after, it'slike two to three o'clock.
I'm like extra stressed, I'mlike and for some your body's
just tired at that point.
Oh yeah, because-.

Speaker 3 (55:32):
I think it's like we're puttering out man.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
I'm like Hulk, I'm always angry, except I'm always
tired.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
And at that point that's your body's breaking
point.

Speaker 2 (55:41):
So it's like we're under stress, yeah, which is
wild body's breaking point.
So it's like we're under stress, yeah, which is wild, um.
And I think you know if you areable to find ways to use your
hsa to to get either the aura orthe loop um, or, you know, find
ways to monitor your stresslevel in some facet.

(56:01):
I think it is good to kind ofkeep in track if you have those
moments where you're like I hada I had a um, a code on the
floor and it was a prettystressful day.
Or going back to recognizingthose early signs you got home
and you feel a little bit moreexhausted than normal.

(56:21):
Or you, you're starting to snapat your friends a little bit
more.
Or yeah, you know things arenot going the way that it's
supposed to.
You know.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
Checking on your stress level, see, especially if
you have that ability yeah,with that information that the
aura ring gathers, it can alsolike it also judges your
resilience based off like somesort of algorithm they have in
there and it'll tell you like ifyour body's having a hard time
snapping back into like its bestself and it'll say, like your

(56:49):
resilience is score is goingdown, like you, like you should
consider it, like it gives you,like it actually is pretty cool
because it'll like give youevidence-based practice, like
ways to get back on track andlike makes you ask you questions
about what might be making you,making you have this, this
decline in in numbers and andall of that contributing to like

(57:09):
a lower resilience score.
So the amount of informationthat you really can track it.
It makes you like, if you payattention to it, you can become
so intuitive with your body andavoid like a lot of, a lot of
the burnout that peopleexperience because you have so
much data coming in it's, it'sgood, it's good data yeah it

(57:30):
really is, um.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
So that that's the little segment break.
But for real, if you have a wayto have a like self-care
routine or any self-care tipsthat we haven't mentioned
already, give us a shout out,let us know at NursingLife101
and.
Nurselife101 on Twitter.

Speaker 3 (57:56):
Yes or.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
X, and it's life with a Y, not an I.
Now we've told you the thingswe've said how to recognize and
what.
What are things that kind oftrigger you to notice that
you're being a little bitstressful?
But how do you build all thattogether to make a slight

(58:18):
self-care routines despite?
I mean, we work 12 hour shifts,seven to seven, three times a
three times a week.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
Excuse me, yeah, if you're working in the hospital
setting, then you're workingthree, twelves or four tens, so
you get a couple extra days offthan your normal nine to five.
I think I love a dolly shoutout, but I think, you know,
we're lucky that we work aschedule like that.

(58:48):
I like to think of it in thatterm, that we're lucky to do
that and that we do have thoseextra days off, and so we can
prioritize, like our self-careon the days that we're off, if
squeezing it in on a day thatyou have a jam-packed 12, 13
hour shift.
I do think it's important tofit something in on our days,
though, and I think we'vetouched on a few ways that you
can do that.
But I know like, again, we'renot parents and we don't have

(59:10):
partners that are also having todedicate time to, but I think
something I've read recently islike, even when you're a mom,
like it's really hard, or a dad,it's really hard to find, like
time for yourself.
So even if that means likeclosing yourself in your closet
and just take five minutes forfive deep, you know, or just

(59:32):
even five deep breaths, likesomething small, like that
actually is, it goes a long way,way more than what you'd think
and I think you know if you haveto start somewhere, that's a
good small step to start yourpractice with.
And I do say practice becauseit's something that we need to
work on every day.
It's something we need topractice every day is taking

(59:54):
care of ourselves and givingourselves TLC, starting small
with just five deep breaths andrecentering yourself so you can
move on with your day.
But I think you know if we'rethinking bigger scale, find some
way to move your body at least30 minutes a day on your days

(01:00:16):
off or, you know, after work,whatever, and that could be like
a family walk, it could bebringing your pet for a walk.
It could be going to the gym, itcould be joining some workout
class.
You know, there's a lot ofdifferent options and I think
it's again so, so important Geta walking pad if you don't want
to like socialize with humanbeings and you walk at home.

(01:00:37):
I just think there's so manyoptions and Amazon is at the tip
of our fingers, so there's somany things that we can.
Yeah, exactly, also notsponsored, but we should be.
So I think.
Yeah, I mean, start small, dolittle things, and then you'll

(01:00:57):
realize, oh wow, that was reallyeasy for me to squeeze in.
And then for me personally, itbecomes like a little like
challenge to work, to work on.
I think also, like we spokeabout on our holiday episode, we
had the bingo cards we wouldlike fill out, like our goals
and stuff, and so having thatlike gives me something to work

(01:01:17):
on as well.
So I like to like check back inwith that and see what things
that, like, I could cross off,or something that I can do to
work towards getting somethingcrossed off, and like those were
things that I brought like tothe table that are filling my
cup, that are filling my tankand those, like I get to

(01:01:38):
concentrate on those, and thoseare things that bring me a lot
of joy.
I think if you think about it inthe ass I know I've said to
fill my tank a lot.
That's a term that I got from atherapist when I was, when I've
been in therapy you have tothink about yourself as a car,
or you can think about yourselfas a car, and if the car doesn't
have any gas, how is it goingto go?

(01:02:00):
It's not going to go anywhere.
And so what are the things thatyou that fill your tank, what
are the things that bring youjoy to help you keep going?
And when you prioritize thosethings, you can keep going and
keep doing more and yourperformance will be better, your
patient satisfaction scoreswill be better, your manager

(01:02:20):
will be happy, your friend, yourco-workers will be happy, like
if you're taking care ofyourself in turn, that is,
taking care of everyone aroundyou yeah, um yeah, and one thing
I didn't realize but I I dofairly frequently is sometimes
just going into a shower yeahturning off the lights and just

(01:02:44):
sitting in the noise, the, thewhite noise of water just
hitting.

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
Yeah, there's something about that and I guess
it goes back to like thegrounding you're just focusing
on.
You've taken all yourpractically all your senses away
, except for, I guess, smell butnot really.

Speaker 3 (01:03:01):
You can have your body wash like you can.
You can make that and likeeverybody should be showering,
so like you can make that yourmoment.
Like you have five minutes totake a shower.
Smell like close your eyes,feel the water, feel the
temperature, your body wash,your shampoo, what is that smell
like?
Just concentrate on those smallthings and it's so restorative.

(01:03:25):
There's actually like aimportant exercise that you can
do, and I've done it sitting ata table, but it's again, it's
just grounding and it's peelingan orange.
But I've been told like youshould try this in your shower,
because then the essential oilsfrom the orange are, you know,
are in the, the water moleculesand the air and the steam, and

(01:03:46):
it accentuates all of that andyou just are concentrating.
How does the orange feel?
What does the outside feel like?
Then you start peeling it.
What does it smell like?
What are the textures?
And it seems silly.
It seems like, okay, that's alittle woo-woo, but it works.
Your whole body is resettingwhen you're focusing on
something in that manner.
I don't know what it is, but itworks like your, your whole
body is resetting when you'refocusing on something in that

(01:04:07):
manner.
I don't know what it is, butlike something gets triggered
and you are just hitting thereset button and it's feel
amazing afterwards yeah, that'svery true and you know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:17):
Interestingly enough, cryo and sauna therapy also do
that, yeah, in very extreme ways, but like you can do that too,
like Like those are important.

Speaker 3 (01:04:25):
And those are generally, I mean, like people
tend to spend more time in asauna than cryo.
But like when I was doing cryoregularly, it felt like I was
getting like this.
It felt like someone was justlike shooting me with happy
medicine, like I'd get out andI'd be like, oh, I feel so great
and it was three minutes oflike below freezing temps and

(01:04:46):
that sounds crazy.
But you do, you walk out andlike I told the person who was
who owned the place that wasdoing it for me.
I was like I feel amazing.
I feel I took like anantidepressant on steroids and
she's like that's how everybodyfeels.
Everybody always says that, soyou can trust us.
I know it sounds crazy, but ifyou want to get a little wild,

(01:05:06):
try something you've never triedbefore cryotherapy or cold
plunges.
Cold plunge, it really doesLike something happens.
Okay, I will share this.

Speaker 2 (01:05:17):
It legitimately resets the mitochondria.
It does.

Speaker 3 (01:05:20):
We have both done contrast therapy, where you do
sauna and then cold plunge, andthen sauna and cold plunge, and
my experience that I shared withChristopher and I think kind of
led to him being superinterested in doing it is when I
was done my body felt sorelaxed.
I felt like I'd just gottenback from a month-long vacation.
I was talk about being restored, renewed.

(01:05:42):
I was a whole new person and Ilove it.
I've done it twice now and if Icould do it like once a week, I
would, but that would be veryexpensive yeah, well yeah, but I
highly recommend it if you guyswant to try something new.
Yeah, contrast therapy is cool.

Speaker 2 (01:06:03):
Sometimes even trying something new is a good stress
relief.
Yeah, I, yeah, I'm not.
I'm not doing a hard point.
So there are mental health isimportant for anyone and you

(01:06:25):
know there was a a couple yearsago, a tv show that came out on
netflix.
I'm just gonna leave it therebecause probably majority of you
know what that show was, but itit really brought suicide up,
to like the forefront ofpeople's thoughts yeah, um and

(01:06:46):
people.
People battle depression andanxiety and um suicidal ideation
, and some of them can be nursesand some of them could be
sitting right beside you and itis important for us as health
care providers to continue tofill our cups so that we don't

(01:07:10):
get to the point, because,interestingly enough, the whole
being present in the moment ofan orange is almost the same
thing as cutting yourself.
You're in that moment offeeling the pain of whatever
breaking your skin.
You notice the pain, you noticethe blood.

(01:07:32):
You know there are things I'mnot endorsing.
Any of that Like that's notwhat I want you to do, because I
want you to be happy andpresent and excited about what
you do because you save lives.
So what mental health apps ormental health therapies do you

(01:07:58):
suggest would be like somethingyou would encourage friends and
our wonderful listeners to?

Speaker 3 (01:08:05):
Yeah, I think we live in a day and age where we're
talking more and more aboutmental health and ways to help
ourselves and help others, and Ithink today, in comparison to
even 10 years ago, it's a loteasier to find resources and get
help.
I have a number of suggestions.

(01:08:27):
I think there are multiple appsthat you can download on your
phone and talk to a therapistwithin minutes.
Betterhelp, cerebral Talkspaceare all good options.
You can make same-dayappointments.
A lot of times.
There are options through yourwork, through ours.
We have something called likefaculty and something employees

(01:08:52):
faculty and employee assistingassistant assisting program
assistant program, yeah, and soit's like therapists and
programs and all kinds ofresources to help with mental
health and stress and everythingthat encompasses that.
So see if you have anythingthat your healthcare system can

(01:09:13):
offer I think most do.
If not, it might be required bylaw.
That might be made up, but I'mnot sure.
I feel like every place thatI've ever worked at has had
resources for that.
So I'm going to assume there'ssome sort of thing, but maybe
it's not safe to assume.
But either way, and there are somany apps out there that help

(01:09:34):
with meditation you can tryHeadspace.
There's YouTube videos forguided meditation.
I mean, truly, youtube is anendless resource for that sort
of thing.
And then, ultimately, we dohave a national suicide and
crisis lifeline, which is 988.
And it's a 24-hour service thatyou can call any time of day if

(01:09:56):
you are in crisis and you justneed to get it out and you need
resources to help yourself.
So I think you know that'ssomething that's really
wonderful that we have as acountry.
But, yeah, like I said, I thinkthat we are so lucky to have so
many options at our fingertipsthis day and age, and knowing

(01:10:17):
that is so important.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Yeah, yeah, because you are important.

Speaker 3 (01:10:22):
You are important.
It's important to take care ofyourself, and we fully recognize
that it's easy to lose yourselfin all the chaos and it's easy
to get overwhelmed and it'sscary.
And just know that you're notalone and we have options.

(01:10:42):
We all have options for helpand the resources are there for
you.

Speaker 2 (01:10:49):
All right class dismissed.
That's a wrap for today'ssession of Nursing Life 101.
We hope you found some usefultakeaways to bring back to the
fore.
Remember, nursing is a lifelonglearning journey and we're here
with you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:00):
If you want to connect, find us on Twitter at
NurseLife101, or on Facebook atNursingLife101.
And don't forget to share andsubscribe with fellow nurses.
Until next time, take care ofyourselves and keep making a
difference out there.
Bye.