Nursing profession is more stressful than other profession nursing essay

There are many fields and professions and it expanding day by day. Out of these professions some are considered very relaxed and some are very difficult and stressful. Nursing is a profession which needs lots of personal commitment and time, due to the nature of the profession, where patients care is priority. I think it is much more challenging and stressful job than many profession. Nurses are one of the most vulnerable professional groups to occupational stress, as they often encounter stressful situations due to the special demands of their profession. Stress is a part of every profession but nurses are more prone to get stress psychologically, physically, socially, due to nature of work and environment. Some people join this profession having the goal that they could help people who need health care. When they actually deal with the patient they realized that this profession is very tough and different from other profession what they thought before. Most of the time nurses dealt with the death and dying people and remains upset and stress. Caring for dying patients is part of the reality of being a nurse. According to (Oskins 1979, Anderson & Basteyns 1981) dealing with death and dying patients is particularly stressful for nurses. As an ICU nurse I have encountered many patients who are life and death situation. Initially it was very difficult for me to deal with dead bodies. I feel very afraid and can’t sleep at night, also heard ventilator alarms. Secondly interpersonal relationship is also one of the causes of stress. According to(Blair and Littlewoods) there are two source of stress in nursing one is conflict with coworkers and second is lake of support from head nurse or manager. Head nurse or clinical nurse specialist (CNI) support is very essential for staff if head nurse do authoritative role and do favors of some staff than staff feel lack of social support and less satisfaction with the head nurses which can cause stress. The division of nurses is also caused stress as BSCN nurses are more taking benefits then diplomas, as good role and appraisal. Another serious stressor is that nurses have always fear of getting deadly infection because the nature of work they come into contact biological dangers, as the use of sharp equipment like needles, body fluids, contact infection which transmitted through touching patient. Some time it happens that we caring patients normally without knowing the actual diagnose and report suggested of some communicable diseases after two to three days. Nurses are more at risk to get expose to chemical substances in the hospital such as use of hazardous medication, such as those used in chemotherapy. There are many factors of working life which is associated to stress. Physical work over load is one of the main aspects which can cause stress. Due to certain work overload it usually caused of Physical stress. Nurses are the around the clock providers of patients care. Nurses are encountered with different work tasks and different working hours because of the institution demand and nature of work. Healthcare institutions are different in size and nature, and nurses are confronted with different work tasks and working hour’s nightshifts. Working in shift duties can disturbed our normal lives and we feel physical weakness and fatigue. Fatigue is the most common adverse effect of shift and night work. Fatigue results from an imbalance between work demands and rest. Nurses are more at risk of getting of illness due to night and shift duties due to disruption in hormone level. A recent study done in 2011 from university College London that working more than 11 hours places a person at a 67% higher risk of developing heart disease compared to those who work just for 8 hours. (Kivimak Mika, April 2011). In our Hospital night shift is for 12 hours. Reproductive problems and breast cancer in female shift workers especially those who are working at night. In 2009 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified night work as a probable carcinogen. So, nursing professionals are more at risk of getting diseases than many other professionals. Beside this paperwork (documentation) is also important part of nursing which can increase workload especially in AKU. Every event we have to document on time. Sometime nurse’s cutoff with the society due to shift works and become isolated from regular contact with your family and friend. Nurses don’t have sufficient time to interact with their families and friends because of shift working, and feel isolated which lead to moodiness. I remember once I met my child almost after two day, I went for morning duty at that time my son was sleeping. I did double duty (morning and evening) when I came back at 1200’am my son was sleeping. He did not see me, next day I again went morning duty he was sleeping. At that time he was just 2 year old. So it is true that nurses did not give enough time to their family due to the nature of their job. Nursing job needs lot of personal commitment. This can affect their relationships at home and as well as at work. Our mind change due to continue interaction with ill patients, which causes change in our attitudes. There are many arguments on nursing profession, many people think that this is one of the noble profession. Nursing is a good profession that helps to save people life. Nursing is one of the professions which posses caring, dedicated, passionate and painstaking qualities due to this I have been inspired by this profession and prepare myself to be part of this profession. Some people think that this is one of the best services which is provided by someone to the humanity. Nursing profession has lots of responsibility for the continuous care for sick, disabled and dying patients. Nurses have multiple roles for improving health of individual, families, and communities. Nursing is one of the fields which is the backbone of every hospital and played a role of moderator between doctor and patients. The nurse assist physician to explain difficult diagnosis and treatment to patients. They coordinate care of the patients while in hospital and at home. Nurses become a good psychologist because she/he always deals with patient and doctors. RefutationNursing is one of the most difficult and the same time motivating jobs as it helps to save lives to people. I think that one of the most difficult factors in this profession is psychological attitude of the nurse to his or her profession. According to my personal experience I can say that working as a nurse is very difficult not only in physiological aspect as you need to stay awake for 24 hours and that is a big stress to nervous system, especially when it happens regularly. According to (Levi: 8-14) individual who work on shifts and periodically change shifts it takes several weeks to adjust physiologically. Another issue is being a nurse and marriage life is very challenging to handle house chores and children’s then other many jobs. The family expects more from the individual and due to not meeting with the expectation the nurse face stress. So the nurse remains always in stress at duty hour and family life also. Conclusion: Stress is a part of every profession but nurses are more prone to get stress physically, socially, psychologically due to nature of work and environment, which can ultimately lead to high level of stress and cause staff exhaustion and turn over and negatively affect patient car.