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“Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept those that I cannot change and the

Stress

Management

for Nurses

This booklet was written by Scott Brunero, CNC, Liaison Mental Health Nursing,

Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney; Darrin Cowan, CNC Liaison Mental Health

Nursing, Greater Southern Area Health Service; Alan Grochulski, CNC, Mental

Health Northern Sydney and Central Coast Health Service; and Angela Garvey,

Professional Ofﬁ cer, NSW Nurses’ Association.

authors

We wish to thank the following people for their help and support in the production

and editing of this booklet:

Marianne Goodwin, Peter Newman, Terry Joyce, Ben Neilson, Salih Ozghul,

Patricia McDermott, Beverley Raphael, and the many nurses who shared

their

stories.

New South Wales Nurses’ Association

PO Box 40, Camperdown 1450

New South Wales. Australia

Telephone: 02 8595 1234

Facsimile: 02 9550 3667

Email: gensec@nswnurses.asn.au

Web: http://www.nswnurses.asn.au/

Stress Management for Nurses

ISBN: 0-646-45849-3

1. Nurses - Job stress. 2. Stress management. I. Garvey Angela.

II. N.S.W Nurses’ Association.

363.11961073

Illustrations by: Scratch! Media, info@scratch.com.au

Design by: jacstar design, jacstar@swiftdsl.com.au

Printed by: No Time to Lose, info@notimetolose.com.au

This work was funded by the NSW Department of Health under the

Mental Health Nursing Enhancement Fund.

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission

of the copyright owner.

acknowledgements

stress

management

for nurses

This booklet is intended to heighten

awareness of the mental health

needs of nurses and provide useful

exercises to assist nurses to

manage stress at work

(Disclaimer)

This book is not designed to be a substitute

for professional advice. It should be used in

conjunction with speciﬁ c health advice from

your health care provider.

While your union and others are working

hard to achieve improvements in nurses’

employment conditions, it remains a fact

of life for nurses that we will frequently

encounter situations at work that are

physically and emotionally demanding.

We also know that chronic exposure to

stress can sometimes have very real and

signiﬁ cant implications for our health and

wellbeing.

While there are a number of mechanisms

already in place to assist nurses, such

as occupational health and safety and

employee assistance programs, it is

also important that every nurse has the

awareness and skills to take care of their

own mental health needs.

It is hoped that this booklet will be a

reminder for nurses about the need to care

for ourselves, be mindful of the impact of

the stressors and strains they encounter at

work, to encourage nurses to seek support

and assistance if needed.

Brett Holmes

forward

Introduction 4

What is Stress?

Occupational Health & Safety

Employee Assistance Programs

Coping Strategies

Relaxation Techniques

10 Things Every Nurse Should Do

Useful Contacts

Recommended Reading

contents

This booklet has been written by

nurses for nurses to help promote

awareness and understanding of

our own mental health needs.

It is widely recognised that nurses,

like many others in the caring

professions, have mastered the

art of anticipating and attending to

the physical and emotional needs

of others. Unfortunately, nurses

tend to forget how to take care

of themselves and each other.

While there is no doubt that

nursing is a wonderful career with

many challenges and intensely

rewarding experiences, it is also a

fact that in their daily work nurses

confront emotional and professional

demands that are unimaginable

to the wider community. Let’s

face it: spending your working

life taking responsibility for the

quality of people’s lives and their

deaths is a heavy burden, even

for the broadest of shoulders.

Nurses have a habit of putting the

needs of our patients ahead of

our own. The community regards

us as tough, able to cope in all

situations, resilient, always caring,

loyal to our patients, dedicated,

introduction

committed, the list goes on. These

expectations are put on us by

society, managers, organisations

and sometimes ourselves. How

do we as nurses react to these

demands, what choices do we have

and how do we put ourselves ﬁ rst?

In the same way as mental health

issues have struggled to make

it on the broader social agenda,

they’re also struggling to make

it on the agenda at work. The

profession has made a lot of

progress in managing many of

the physical risks associated

with our work: we use safe lifting

techniques, we’ve adopted universal

precautions and many other

practices to ensure our physical

safety at work. Unfortunately, we

haven’t made the same level of

progress where hazards to our

mental health are concerned.

One of the most signiﬁ cant risks

nurses are exposed to in their work

is stress. This booklet will highlight

some of the signs and symptoms

that indicate when stress might be

becoming a problem. It offers some

skills and strategies to assist you

to overcome some of the pressures

associated with nursing work.

Inevitably nurses ﬁ nd themselves

in situations where the source of

their stress is difﬁ cult to eliminate,

like ﬁ nding that extra nurse to

cover the shift, stopping that extra

patient turning up on the ward, or

not having enough experienced staff

rostered on the shift. Frustrating

as it may be, there are some

sources of stress that we have

limited ability to change, and this

can lead to people feeling stressed,

anxious, angry and depressed.

The coping strategies and relaxation

techniques explained in this book

have been evaluated and they work.

They are simple, effective and

helpful in managing anxiety levels,

anger and depressed feelings.

However, it is critical that we all

recognise that individual stress

management is only part of the

answer to looking after nurses’

mental health. When we consider

workplace mental health, we must

adopt the same approach that we

have adopted for the management

of other occupational health and

safety concerns. That is, with a risk

management approach that focuses

on prevention. For this reason, we

have included a brief overview of

the occupational health and safety

laws in NSW and the obligations

of both employers and employees

to work together to maintain safe

and healthy systems of work.

It is also important that all nurses

are aware of NSW Health’s

commitment to the mental health

and wellbeing of staff at work in

public hospitals. A conﬁ dential

employee assistance program (EAP)

has been available to all public

sector nurses for some time. Many

of the nurses who provided personal

insights for this project reported a

high level of satisfaction with the

service provided by local EAPs.

It is hoped that nurses who read

this book will beneﬁ t, not only

from practising the strategies and

exercises, but also by developing

a better awareness of our own

mental health needs and those of

our colleagues. Most of all, it is

important that we accept that there

is no shame in acknowledging that,

at times, the demands placed on us

at work can become overwhelming

and that the best thing we can do

for ourselves, our families and our

patients is to take care of ourselves

and seek help if we need it.

introduction

You would think that deﬁ ning

stress would be relatively easy.

Yet those who have spent most of

their professional lives studying

it still have trouble deﬁ ning the

term. Despite efforts over the

last half-century to deﬁ ne the

term, no satisfactory deﬁ nition

of stress exists. Deﬁ ning stress

is much like deﬁ ning happiness.

Everyone knows what it is, but no

one can agree on a deﬁ nition.

Essentially, stress is the emotional

and physical response you

experience when you perceive an

imbalance between demands placed

on you and your resources at a

time when coping is important.

What this means is that you

experience stress whenever you

are faced with an event or situation

that you perceive as challenging to

your ability to cope. If you see the

what is stress?

event or situation as only mildly

challenging, you will probably feel

only a little stress; however, if you

perceive the situation or event as

threatening or overwhelming your

coping abilities, you will probably

feel a lot of stress. Importantly,

your perception of how negative an

outcome could be will signiﬁ cantly

determine what degree of stress

you experience. So, having to

wait for a bus when you have

all the time in the world triggers

only a little stress. Waiting for

that same bus when you are

running late for an appointment

triggers much more stress.

The difference between the

demands of the situation and

your perception of how well you

can cope with that situation

is what determines how

much stress you will feel.

What are the signs and

symptoms of stress?

The signs and symptoms of stress

can range from a major physical

crisis like a heart attack, to more

minor symptoms like tiredness

and disrupted sleep patterns.

The more serious stress-related

problems usually emerge in the

context of prolonged periods of

exposure to intense stress. It

is important therefore to be

able to recognise and manage

the early signs and symptoms

of stress, in order to avoid the

more serious effects of stress

on your health and well-being.

Think about how you have been

feeling in the last few months.

How many of the physical and

psychological signs of stress

listed on the following page

have you experienced?

• tiredness, fatigue, disrupted sleep patterns

____________________

• increased pulse rate and blood pressure

____________________

• shallow, rapid respirations

____________________

• muscular tension

____________________

• loss of appetite, overeating, indigestion

____________________

• constipation, diarrhoea

____________________

• dry mouth

____________________

• excessive perspiration, clamminess

____________________

• nausea

____________________

• decreased libido

____________________

• nail-biting

____________________

• increased use of alcohol or other drugs

____________________

• irritability and impatience

____________________

• frequent worry and anxiety

____________________

• moodiness, feeling sad or upset

____________________

• loss of sense of humour

____________________

• poor concentration, memory lapses

____________________

• ambivalence

____________________

• feeling overwhelmed by even minor problems

____________________

signs and symptons of stress:

Nurses confront a range of

occupational health and safety

(OHS) risks in their roles providing

care and comfort to the sick and

aged. While much has been

done to identify and control the

physical risks associated with

nursing work, such as manual

handling, ergonomics, chemical

and biological hazards, we have

been less successful in recognising

the very real psychological risks

encountered by nurses.

There is a growing recognition

among employers and many

employees that the effects of the

workplace stress that many nurses

experience may constitute a mental

or psychological disorder due to

exposure to risks in the workplace.

Recent WorkCover NSW

statistics

indicate that stress is among

the most common workplace

hazards for nurses, along with

manual handling injuries, physical

injuries from acts of aggression

or violence and the consequences

of chemical exposures.

occupational

health & safety

While OHS legislation provides a

framework for the health, community

and aged care industries to develop

strategies to minimise the risk of

injury to nurses, it takes more than

legislation for a safety culture to

develop and become the foundation

for nursing practice. All nurses, at

all levels, need to embrace safety,

including psychological safety, and

consider it integral to the way work

is planned, resourced, performed,

monitored and evaluated.

The NSW Occupational Health

and Safety Act 2000 (OHS Act)

is the key legislative instrument

that provides for the health, safety

and welfare of all people at a

workplace including employees,

agency nurses, patients,

contractors and visitors.

Section 8 of the OHS Act places the

prime responsibility for occupational

health and safety on the employer.

Employers are required to:

• ensure the health, safety

and welfare at work of

all employees, and

• ensure that people (other

than employees) are not

exposed to risks to their

health and safety arising from

the employer’s activities.

This means that employers must:

• ensure that the work

environment is safe

• provide and maintain

safe systems of work,

eg work conditions

• ensure that everything

used at the workplace is

safe when used properly,

eg equipment, chemicals

• provide information,

instruction and training

• establish and maintain

effective consultation

• provide supervision

sufﬁ cient to ensure safety

• provide adequate facilities

for the welfare of employees,

eg toilets, facilities for hand

washing and meal rooms

• provide for the safety of

patients, visitors, sub-

contractors and others who

visit or work in the workplace.

occupational health & safety

Section 26 of the OHS Act extends

the employer’s responsibilities to

all levels of management. Directors

and managers are responsible for

OHS within their areas of control

and inﬂ uence. They are the

employer’s representatives and

have the responsibility, authority

and delegation for resourcing,

developing, implementing and

reviewing policies and procedures.

All nurses in management or

supervisor positions have a

responsibility for the health and

safety of all staff reporting to

them. This responsibility is limited

to the scope of their control,

authority or inﬂ uence. In some

circumstances, supervisors

are regarded as employees.

Section 20 of the OHS Act

outlines your responsibilities

as an employee. Speciﬁ cally,

you are required to:

• cooperate with the employer

in their efforts to provide a

safe and healthy workplace,

i.e. follow safe systems

of work, use equipment

according to procedure,

participate in training, and

report any risks or injuries

• take reasonable care not

to endanger anyone else by

what you do (actions) or what

you fail to do (omissions).

Employees are also obliged by

the OHS Regulation (clause 28)

to report anything that could

reduce the employer’s ability to

comply with the OHS Act. This

could include reporting:

• hazards

• an injury or accident

• faulty equipment

• unsafe work practices, or

work practices that employees

are unable to comply with

– either of these situation

could increase the risk to

the employee, colleagues

or others in the workplace,

eg patients or residents.

As always, nurses with OHS

concerns can contact the

NSW Nurses’ Association for

advice and assistance.

occupational health & safety

Compliance with the NSW Health

policy for Employee Assistance

Programs is mandatory for all

public health organisations in NSW.

The policy deﬁ nes an employee

assistance program (EAP) as a

“work-based, early intervention

strategy which provides appropriate,

timely, professional and conﬁ dential

counselling and referral services

for staff (and their families) in

order to assist them to identify

and resolve professional, personal,

health or work-related issues.”

While EAP has been available for

some time, generally it is under-

utilised by nurses. Indeed, many of

the nurses who contributed to the

development of this book by sharing

their advice and insights into mental

health issues at work, expressed

concerns about the conﬁ dentiality of

employee

assistance

programs

this type of work-based counselling.

However, it is very important to

recognise that the EAPs available to

nurses in the NSW public sector are

governed by the same privacy rules

and regulations that apply to all

other health information in NSW, i.e.

the Privacy and Personal Information

Protection Act 1998 and the Health

Records Information Protection Act

2002. Nurses who access EAP can

do so with the same expectations

in relation to privacy that they have

of any other health care agency.

The rationale for the provision

of EAP is quite simple: levels of

psychological distress among staff

contribute to lower productivity

and studies have shown that

workplace counselling helps

reduce psychological distress.

Nursing staff can access EAP

for any issue that may have an

impact on the health and safety

of staff at work, including:

• relationship problems

at home or at work;

• mental health issues;

• organisational change;

• substance abuse;

• gambling problems;

• workplace conﬂ ict;

• health concerns;

• ﬁ nancial problems.

employee assistance programs

“Grant me the courage to

change the things I can change,

the serenity to accept those

that I cannot change and the

wisdom to know the difference”

Reinhold Niebuhr

This famous quote from philosopher

Reinhold Niebuhr has been the

inspiration for many people who

have successfully managed to turn

their lives around by consciously

challenging many of their thoughts

and assumptions in order to

change the way they think and

feel about their situations.

With the level of day-to-day pressure

faced by many nurses, it is easy

for us to fall into negative patterns

of thinking that have a big impact

on how we feel at work and at

home. The trick is to recognise

negative thinking patterns and

work towards changing them.

The nursing literature suggests that

there are a range of interventions to

help you reduce stress in nursing.

A recent review

suggests that

cognitive behavioural interventions

and relaxation/meditation

coping strategies

strategies are effective in reducing

your personal levels of stress.

Cognitive-behavioural interventions

are designed to help people live

longer, feel better and avoid having

self-defeating thoughts. They assist

people to understand themselves

so that they may live a more

fulﬁ lling and happier existence.

Developed in the 1950s by Aaron

Beck and Albert Ellis, these

interventions are designed to

increase your emotional self-

management to allow you to change

the things you can change and

accept (though not like) those

things you cannot change.

This type of intervention targets

the individual thoughts as a

cognitive (thinking) process. It is

based on the theory that changes

in our emotions and behaviours

are determined by our thoughts

about events that occur. People

are often disturbed by their view

or perception of events rather

than the events themselves. By

being able to change the way

that you think about things you

then are able to change the way

that you also feel about them.

By identifying and then modifying

those thoughts which produce

negative feelings, you are then

able to reach your goals and

make changes in the way that

you perceive and feel about life

situations. It sounds easy but this

takes some practice to change

the way you react to situations.

The model is as easy

to use as A.B.C.

A = Activating event (what

happened) An occurrence,

which triggers an emotional

consequence.

Eg: My bus is running late, I

won’t make it in time for work

B = Belief (what you are thinking,

self talk) An evaluation and

judgement about the demands

on your self, demands about

others and demands about

the world or life conditions.

These may be rational and

realistic or irrational.

Eg: People will look down on me

for being late. They will think

I’m stupid and unreliable

coping strategies

C= Consequence (outcome) an

emotional and/or physical

consequence linked to a belief.

Eg: Anxiety

It is easier to work out the

Activating event (problem) and

Consequences (outcome) ﬁ rst, as

the Beliefs (what you are thinking)

are not always so obvious to us.

To help us resolve a problematic

situation we can use these steps.

Activating Event (A) Write down a

problem which has happened

or may happen in the future,

which leads you to perform

ineffectively and/or experience

a negative emotional reaction.

Consequences (C) Write down

your behaviour and your

negative emotional stress

reactions/feelings, which

regularly occur in the face of

the above activating event (A).

Beliefs (B) Write down your beliefs,

thoughts, attitudes and self

talk about the activating event

(A), which are irrational, not

true or useful that lead to your

self defeating behaviour.

Goals Write down how you would

like to behave and feel about

the Activating Event (A) the next

time a similar problem occurs.

Step 1: Think of an activating event (A)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2: Identify your feelings/reactions (C)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Identify beliefs (B) that lead to negative outcomes

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 4: Write down the same event (A)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 5: How would you like to feel and behave (C) the next time the same

event occurs?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

now apply these steps to a real example from your

own life:

Examples of negative thoughts

and stressful thinking

Our thoughts or types of thinking (B

- beliefs) directly affect our feelings.

Some of our thoughts are healthy

while some are not beneﬁ cial to

us. By addressing and changing our

thinking we can then inﬂ uence and

change our emotions and physical

wellbeing.

Some examples of errors

in thinking are:

1. Black & white thinking

Some times we see things in

extremes. No middle ground. Eg:

good or bad, success or failure,

perfect verses useless or moral

verses immoral. When we do this

we forget that things are rarely one

way or the other but usually some

where in between. Another name

for this is “All or nothing thinking”.

Eg: “If I am not perfect

then I am useless.”

2. Filtering

You tend to see all the things

that are wrong, but ignore

the positives and take all

the positives for granted.

Eg: “I forgot how to set up for the

catheterisation. Then I panicked. I

can’t do anything right. I’m a failure.”

3. Overgeneralising

When people build up one

thing about themselves or their

circumstances and end up thinking

that it represents the whole

situation or happens all the time or

is part of a never ending pattern.

Eg: “No-one here knows

what they are doing.”

4. Mind reading

Where we jump to conclusions

without enough evidence or where

we make guesses about what other

people are thinking about us.

Eg: “I wasn’t given the

shifts I asked for because

she doesn’t like me.”

5. Fortune telling

When you predict the future

in a totally negative way.

Eg: “It will be another

shift I can’t handle.”

6. Personalising

When you jump to a conclusion

that something is directly

connected to you.

Eg: “Every one knows I’ve been

off work because I can’t cope.”

coping strategies

Challenging negative and

unhelpful thinking

How do we do this? The ﬁ rst

step is to become more aware of

your emotional stress reactions

and understand that they

are not helpful in you getting

what you want and need.

Try this: On a piece of paper

draw two columns. In the ﬁ rst

column write down an irrational

belief; one that caused you to

become overly upset about a

situation, person, or task. In

the second column, write down

the more realistic response that

would make you feel better about

the situation. The table below

includes some common examples.

Automatic Thoughts

Realistic Responses

My performance was terrible –

I’ll never be any good at this.

(black & white thinking)

It’s awful not feeling completely

conﬁ dent about my skills but I know

I’m learning and that things will

gradually get better.

I can’t ﬁ nd anything I like about

working here. Nothing goes right.

(ﬁ ltering)

There are some good days and bad

days in every job. Today is one of

the bad days, but not all my days

are bad.

Nothing goes right for me.

(overgeneralising)

Things don’t always go perfectly

but then again they don’t always

go wrong.

I know everyone in the team thinks

I’m an idiot.

(mind reading)

No one has said that I am useless.

Everyone is actually really friendly

and supportive.

Things are only going to get worse.

(fortune telling)

No one knows the future but I know

I have coped with worse things in

the past.

I haven’t been given the shifts I

asked for because she hates me.

(personalising)

Sometimes I get the roster I ask

for, so maybe she doesn’t hate me

afterall.

Step 1: My irrational belief/thought (ie an irrational or unreasonable

response to a situation):

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2: Prove it. Where’s the evidence that my belief is true?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Is there evidence that my belief is false?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 4: Write down what you did (how did you behave or feel following your

irrational thoughts/beliefs?)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

now try this:

Step 5: Now answer the following questions.

Did your behaviour solve the problem in the short term?

Yes

________________________

Did your behaviour solve the problem in the long term?

Yes

________________________

Did your feelings help you to think clearly.

Yes

________________________

Did your feelings help you to deal with the upsetting event?

Yes

________________________

Are your emotions and behaviours helping you or hurting you?

Yes

________________________

Step 6: What good things will happen to me if I give up my belief?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By developing emotional self-management, you will be more able to

handle stressful situations and think more clearly about your problems.

1. Activating event (A) – What is the problem, be speciﬁ c

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Consequences (C) – Negative behaviours and stress emotions/feelings

(eg anxious, depressed)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Beliefs (B) – Irrational, false thoughts – the things you said to

yourself following the activating event (A) (eg: Everything is so unfair.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Goals – How I would like to feel and behave

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Rational beliefs – Sensible and true statements

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reinforce your preferred beliefs. With practice, make them

part of you. Do this regularly and ask yourself:

• What truth is there in my thinking?

• What is the evidence?

• Will thinking like this help me?

• How else could I think about this?

• Where is it written that it must be so?

• Is my belief desirable or essential?

• What is the worst thing that could happen to me?

• What can I do if that happens?

Relaxation is a skill. With frequent

practice you will improve these

skills to control your emotions and

improve your physical well being.

These techniques can be practiced

either day or night to assist you to

relax and feel in control. It is really

important to practice regularly.

Slow breathing technique

This is useful if you start to over

breath and when you are feeling the

ﬁ rst signs of anxiety or stress. You

are required to do the following:

1. STOP what you are

doing and sit down.

2. Hold your breath and

count to 10.

3. When you count to 10

breathe out and say the

word “relax” to your self in

a calm soothing manner.

4. Breathe in and out through your

mouth, focus on your breathing.

Breathe in for 3 seconds and

relaxation

techniques

out for 3 seconds. Repeat

saying “relax” to your self

every time you breathe out.

5. At the end of each minute hold

your breath for 10 seconds

and then continue the 6-

second breathing cycle.

6. Continue doing this breathing

cycle until all of your

symptoms of over breathing

are gone and you feel relaxed

and back in control.

Muscle relaxation technique

This technique involves you using

your slow breathing technique

in conjunction with muscle

relaxation. This can be practiced

any time. The more you practice

the easier it will be to achieve

total relaxation and also the

duration of feeling relaxed and

being stress free will last longer.

1. Sit down in a comfortable chair

in a quiet location without

disruption or distraction.

2. Make sure your body, feet and

arms are supported, feet in

front of you, arms by your sides.

3. Focus on the tension in

your body or muscles.

4. Breathe in and out slowly

and deeply, at your own

pace until you settle. If you

feel your anxiety rise start

again by holding your breath,

focus on your breathing.

5. Breathe in for 3 seconds

and out for 3 seconds. In

through your nose, out through

your mouth saying “relax”

to your self-every time you

breath out. As you say the

word relax allow the tension

go from your muscles.

6. Close your eyes. Continue

breathing in through your nose

and out through your mouth

saying “relax” to your self-

every time you breath out.

7. Repeat this process until

you feel relaxed and practice

it a few times a day.

relaxation techniques

Although we cannot avoid stress, we

can learn to deal with it efﬁ ciently,

adjust and live with it, rather

than letting stress overwhelm us

and effect our quality of life.

Try to:

1. Keep things in

perspective, prioritise

2. Share your worries with

family and friends

3. Increased knowledge helps to

alleviate fears – clear up any

misconceptions and give yourself

the tools and resources to cope.

4. Don’t be too hard on yourself

5. Worry does not solve anything,

try to confront your problems

and make plans to solve them.

6. Set realistic goals

7. Exercise regularly and eat

healthily

8. Practice relaxation techniques

9. Have fun with your family

and friends, think positive

and enjoy new experiences

10. Remember: it is normal

to have setbacks – they

can be overcome.

10 things every

nurse should do

Employee Assistance Programs

Every Area Health Service has

an EAP program available free of

charge to its employees. Many

of these services provide free

access to external providers.

Contact your Area administration

ofﬁ ce for contact details.

General Practitioner

Maintain regular contact with your

GP and be sure to discuss any

concerns you may have with your

doctor. Your doctor will also be able

make appropriate referrals to assist

you with your recovery such as:

• Anxiety Clinics

• Counselling Services

• Relaxation and Stress

management Courses

• Health Promotion Units

useful contacts

There are also now a number of

allied health services covered by

Medicare. Your GP may be able to

refer you to a health professional for

sessions rebatable under Medicare.

Local Community Health Centre

Contact your local community

health centre (white pages,

under “community health”)

Alcohol & Drug Information

Service (ADIS)

24 hr advice

1800 422 599

Beyond Blue

www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx

beyondblue is a national,

independent, not-for-proﬁ t

organisation working to address

issues associated with depression,

anxiety and related substance

misuse disorders in Australia.

Black Dog Institute

www.blackdoginstitute.org.au

Welcome to the Black Dog

Institute, a clinical, research

and educational body dedicated

to improving understanding,

diagnosis and treatment of

depression and bipolar disorder

Bush Crisis Line

www.bcl.org.au

1800 805 391

A 24 hour crisis line that provides

conﬁ dential telephone support

and debrieﬁ ng services to rural

and remote practitioners.

Centre for Cognitive Behaviour

Therapy

www.ccbt.com.au

DepressioNET

www.depressionet.com.au

Information, help and support for

people who have Depression

St. Vincent’s Anxiety

Disorders Clinic

www.crufad.org

New South Wales

Nurses Association

www.nswnurses.asn.au

1300367962

8595 1234

From Thought to Action:

A self-help manual, (2nd ed)

– Dr Antony Kidman, 2001

Feeling Better: A Guide to

Mood Management

– Dr Antony Kidman, 1999

Change Your Thinking

– Sarah Edelman, 2003

Three minute Therapy: Change

your thinking, change your life

– Michael R. Edelstein, 1997

What you can change and

what you can’t

– Martin EP Seligman, 1994

A New Guide to Rational Living

– Albert Ellis and Robert

A. Harper, 1975.

Wellness At Work – Building

Resilience To Job Stress

– Valerie 0’Hara, 1995

recommended

reading

1 Stress Management for Dummies (1999) Allen

Elkin, IDG Books Worldwide Inc, California.

2 This section adapted with permission from Occupational

Health and Safety Essentials for Nurses, WorkCover

NSW, NSW Nurses’ Association, 2004.

3 Statistical Bulletin 2000, WorkCover

NSW, www.workover.nsw.gov.au

4 Employee Assistance Programs: NSW Health Policy

and Better Practice, NSW Health, March 2005.

5 Mimura C & Grifﬁ ths P (2003) The effectiveness of current

approaches to workplace stress management in the

nursing profession: an evidence based literature review,

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Jan (60)1.

6 Kirkness, A & Grochulski, A (2001) “Living with an Implantable

cardioverter deﬁ brillator” Royal North Shore Hospital and

Community services (Reproduced in part with permission).

7 The RET resource book for Practitioners. Michael.

E Bernard and Janet Wolfe, editors. New York, N.Y:

Institute for Rational Emotive Therapy, 1993.

notes

Stress

Management

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