Although being a travel nurse is a fulfilling and exciting role, it can lead nurses to get overwhelmed and stressed. Of course, many jobs nowadays are stressful every now and then, prolonged stress can lead to extreme consequences for your health. This will lead to burning out faster, and even mental illnesses like anxiety and depression.
Because of this, taking care of your mental health and taking the time to be relieved from stress is crucial for this type of job. As a travel nurse, you spend most of your time assisting and helping your patients, during your time off it’s time to help yourself! This isn’t an easy challenge to overcome, so let’s see how you can succeed!
Stay Organized
Even though the organization is an essential skill to have for any type of work, being a travel nurse requires you to have exceptional organizational skills. You will frequently move from one place to another, so keeping a schedule can help you stay organized and keep you prepared for your next move. You might be asking yourself, “But every day is different, how can I do this?”
The organization itself, if not done correctly, can cause stress. One of the best things to do is create schedules, to-do, and checklists to help you stay on top of your game. Each of these can be used and applied to various places and situations. Another great tip is to keep a bag with all your work necessities, you can find this to be a true lifesaver! Organizational methods like these will help reduce anxiety, as you will already know you have everything you need!
Get enough sleep
Of course, getting enough sleep is vital for work. Sleep is one of the main methods that people use to cope with stress, as well as an amazing remedy that relaces your entire body. Because of stress, we see many travel nurses have trouble falling asleep. Now, what can you do to help yourself fall asleep faster?
Practicing good sleep routine is critical for any profession. But, if you work as a nurse, you’re not only responsible for your own health but that of your patients as well! In order to fall asleep faster and have a better quality of rest, try to always go to bed around the same time, if possible. You can also try other sleeping remedies like melatonin, turning off your TV, or even putting on relaxing music and lavender-scented oils or aromatherapy. If you frequently work night shifts, then try practicing sleeping during the day. Also, you should leave your phone before going to bed. This all can help you relax and fall asleep faster.
Set a self-care routine
This is one of the best ways you can minimize the effect of stress on your mind and body. Taking care of your physical and mental health can have a huge meditative effect on your brain, which can cause you to relax more and enjoy your day! But how can you set a self-care routine?
A self-care routine doesn’t have to be anything complex, it can actually be very simple. For example, to help establish a proper self-care routine, drink a cup of tea or black coffee in the morning to help start your day off right. Additionally, taking care of things like your hair, nails and skin has shown to have a soothing effect on your mental health as well. Practicing things like this will be beneficial for you!
Have a “ME day”
Outside of your daily self-care activities, having a day just for yourself is a fantastic way of relieving stress as well as handling burnout. Just in case you didn’t know, a “me day” is a period dedicated to you and only you. You can do anything you’d like! Many people find reading a book, taking a bubble bath, or even hiking to be very relaxing and help reboot your mind and body.
Nurses don’t get many chances to enjoy a day by themselves. However, taking a “me day” is ideal for stress relief. Make sure to keep in mind that people recharge in different ways, so what might work for you, might not work for the next person, and so on.
Create a quality support system
Most people tend to talk to their closest friends and family when they are stressed. Since you may be far from home, having a way to reach out to people you are close to is critical. It is unfortunate but some of your friends and family members may not always understand what you are going through as a travel nurse. With that in mind, we recommend building a quality support system with your colleagues.
You can create meaningful relationships with your colleagues using informal chats and shorter content instead of the usual boring emails or calls. Internal communication like this can help you stay in touch with your colleagues as well as set healthy boundaries between your work and private life.
Try yoga and meditation
Yoga is one of the most ideal balances between resting your mind and keeping your brain active. Daily yoga and meditation are some of the best ways to remove the tension as well as stress from our bodies. As a travel nurse, you might have a packed schedule, but you can always do these light exercises for 15 minutes.
Daily yoga and meditation can help keep you physically active without getting tired, as well as fill you up with energy and positivity for your day!
Final thoughts
Working as a travel nurse can be extremely stressful at times. You have to deal with patients on a daily basis without having much time to dedicate to yourself. But, with these stress relief tips, you will be able to recharge your batteries to help improve the quality of your personal life and work productivity!
We hope you find these tips for stress relief helpful! Are you an experienced travel nurse and have some tips for others to help relieve stress? Follow us on social media and comment on our posts what tips and tricks for you! As always feel free to reach out to your amazing recruiter if you have any questions or need help!