Blog: Beyond The Scrubs: Nurses Lives

nhind
Authored by nhind
Posted Wednesday, August 26, 2015 - 9:01pm

Going beyond the uniform many of your colleagues are really going through IT each day.

The truth is this stuff goes deeper than being tired and over-worked.

It’s so tough, as a proud nurse to admit some days are a battle you just won’t win.

I’ve put this blog together for you in the hope that it’ll inspire YOU to be easier on yourself and know that you aren’t alone.

After chatting to many proud nurses just like you, here’s what’s frustrates them:

LIVING TO WORK

Shocking work life balance was HUGE. Sure, spending lots of time on long shifts doesn’t help. Although that’s what you signed up for, the truth is it’s everything else that goes with it.

No respite, disturbed sleeping patterns and very little time to spend relaxing doing just the smallest thing for YOU all adds up.

Working to LIVE would be nice if only a pipe – dream.

LACK OF TIME

When you’ve found your calling it’s an amazing feeling. To actually live it each day is a dream.

When the human contact side of such a caring profession feels like it’s fading into the distance, along with the time you have to make those important connections there’s not much satisfaction in that.

Lack of time to support and chat to patients, get all your jobs done without having to hand them over to the next shift, really made these nurses feel they weren’t providing all they truly wanted to.

SNAPPING AT MY PARTNER & KIDS

Relationships are buckling under the pressure. My marriage certainly didn’t survive us ‘passing through like ships in the night’.

Whether it’s exhaustion, stress, not being able to switch off and leave work at work – nurses are snapping at their loved ones even though they don’t mean too.

Stress tends to rear it’s ugly head in often uncontrollable ways.

It’s pretty shit feeling guilty afterwards and asking yourself Am I a bad person? What must they think of me? Why do I let it happen?

DAYS OFF BECOME SLEEP DAYS

9-5ers plan their days off, little trips, catch up with friends – It’s their day.

No such thing here, nurses are spending a lot of their day catching up on sleep and then worrying about their next shift along with all the other ‘life stuff’ to catch up on.

Kind of adds to the guilt from earlier, you can’t muster the energy to be the good wife, mother, daughter, friend that you’d like to be.

IS MY UNIFORM SHRINKING?

It hard to stay in shape on a diet of shift work, HUGE stress, quick fix snacking and horrendous sleep quality.

When these nurses looked in the mirror and harshly criticised their figures this made them feel even worse. They openly admitted that being intimate with their partner was getting tougher sometimes.

I want to let you know that it is very possible to regain your figure, even on a night shift, so there is hope.

Self confidence was also taking a hit.

LITTLE ENERGY FOR PLAYING WITH THE KIDS

The last thing you feel like doing is going to the park or taking the kids swimming. When you’re running on empty the only thing that kept these nurses looking like they were having a wale of a time was the beaming smiles on their little ones faces.

Again, guilt was an over-riding feeling that led onto frustration and negative self talk.

BEING PRESENT & SWITCHING OFF

While most 9-5ers struggle to be ‘present’ because of their addiction to smartphones and tablets nurses can’t switch off from thinking about work.

When they’re at home they’re finding themselves thinking about work. Generally something they could have done better or didn’t get chance to do. Worrying about their next shift was also very common. Work was always in the back of their mind.

They worried about the effect this has on their close relationships and ability to live in the moment and do activities they used to enjoy.

GOOD ROLE MODEL

There’s REAL concerns about the example some of the nurses feel they’re setting to their children.

Career – wise there’s no problem, however in their lifestyle and their outlook on life they’d like to send better vibes and examples.

Positivity, confidence, health and living life by thriving not just surviving were all up there.

So that’s a ‘wrap’ as they say – real life nurses of all ages and levels of experience having similar thoughts and difficulties some days. They aren’t weak, unable to do their job or beaten down – NO they are real people who care beyond the call of duty. They are the person beyond the uniform.

I hope in reading this post you feel more comfortable to chat to a close friend or someone who would do a good job of listening without judging you.

If you’d like to reach out, I’d like to help take the pressure off for a bit and be your ‘sounding board’ to just chat email me at nathan@nursetransformations.co.uk

Share this