As I was on the ward one morning, going about my work, a colleague told me that a newly qualified nurse was upset. I asked her to come and talk to me in the office.
She was very upset, as she was on a long day and had been told by one of the ward sisters that they would be one qualified nurse short on the late shift.
The ward sister had told her not to worry, as they would work together and manage with the senior healthcare assistants who would also be on shift.
But she explained to me that she felt stressed that, as a newly qualified nurse, she wouldn't be able to get everything done. And what if there was an emergency she had to deal with?
She did her final student nurse placement with us before applying for the job, so she knows the ward well.
But as a student there was always a qualified nurse she could turn to, whereas now she is that nurse. She said she feels supported on the ward but sometimes feels overwhelmed by the workload and responsibility.
"How do we recognise this and support each other?"
This isn’t only an issue for newly qualified nurses. A nurse can seem to be coping well emotionally, then something happens that tips them over the edge.
So how do we recognise this and support each other? This is especially hard when the ward is busy, staffing is an issue and nurses don't speak out until it gets too much.
Nurses’ mental health has been highlighted in the nursing press recently after the reported increase in suicides. But what can we do at a local level?
Telling a colleague you are struggling is not failure. It is, in fact, the opposite: you have realised you need help and are seeking it before you burn out emotionally and physically.
If I’m struggling, I can tell most of my colleagues, including my line manager. I know they won’t judge me and will give me the support I need. That might be a 10-minute break or to just offload some of the stuff that’s whizzing around my head – often that’s all that’s needed.
I also recommend that nurses reflect on and write down how they feel, what has led to this and what can be done in the future to stop it happening again.
Reflection is a brilliant thing to do and can also be used for your revalidation, so it’s a win-win. It also gets everything out of your head and onto a piece of paper.
This is what I asked the newly qualified nurse to do. I also asked her to share it with us if possible, so that we can look at the support we give to newly qualified nurses and improve or change it if needed.
Lastly, I told her that my door is always open. I encouraged her to come and talk to me before she gets to tipping point, as we are a team and work together.
When I messaged her later that evening, she said the shift had been busy but fine, and she felt supported by the senior healthcare assistants and the ward sister.
Sian Rodger is patient education and health coaching lead, London Spinal Cord Injury Centre
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February 24, 2020 at 08:36PM
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'Telling a colleague you are struggling is not failure' - Nursing Times
"colleague" - Google News
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