Medical Edge Recruitment provided this article.
By: Zachary Hall, Key Account Manager, Medical Edge Recruitment
As a travel nurse, committing to contracts lasting 8-13 weeks or longer often places you far from home. In this role, you may work long hours and care for a diverse range of patients. Despite being a dedicated professional, it’s essential to recognize your human side. The medical field can be both physically and mentally demanding, emphasizing the need to prioritize mental health both during and between assignments.
Why is Mental Health Crucial, Particularly in Nursing?
Mental health refers to a person’s psychological and emotional well-being. Indicators of good mental health include the ability to experience joy for others, a desire for social interactions, maintaining healthy relationship boundaries, balanced routines, and an overall sense of energy and happiness. Conversely, signs of poor mental health encompass excessive worrying, mood swings, persistent fatigue, changes in appetite, decreased functioning, and more. Mental health challenges can permeate personal and professional life, affecting productivity, increasing absenteeism, and impacting overall performance. In the medical industry, maintaining good mental health is not just a personal choice; it can be a matter of life and death. Therefore, prioritizing mental health is imperative for nurses.
How to Prioritize Mental Health? The Solution is Self-Care.
Burnout resulting from overworking can significantly contribute to poor mental health, preventing the body from recovering adequately. It’s easy to become caught up in consecutive shifts during an assignment, neglecting essential downtime. A proactive approach to avoid overworking involves pre-planning time off and strategically incorporating days of requested time off (RTO) to catch up on much-needed rest and relaxation.
During RTO days, it’s crucial to avoid tasks that induce stress or overexertion, as these defeat the purpose of taking time for yourself. These days can serve as opportunities to engage in self-care activities, defined as behaviors focusing on mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Self-care encompasses a broad spectrum, including exercise, napping, spa treatments, walks, cooking, dining out, pursuing joyful hobbies, and more. While self-care isn’t limited to these activities, they can serve as starting points for those seeking inspiration.
Mental Health and Self-Care for Nurses
Reiterating the importance of mental health for nurses is crucial due to the demanding nature of the profession. As a hard-working professional, recognizing your humanity is vital, making your mental health as important as anyone else’s. Boosting your mental health involves engaging in acts of self-care to relax and reset. Since self-care is individualized, finding activities that resonate with you is key. Investing time in self-care pays dividends in the long run, contributing to your overall well-being and resilience in the challenging field of nursing.
Working with an agency that prioritizes self-care is important. Searching for an agency that will support you?
Medical Edge Recruitment is a premier travel nursing recruitment agency specializing in providing top talent to clients in the healthcare industry. We connect clinical and allied providers to their ideal opportunities, focusing on building long-lasting relationships through honesty and transparency. In travel nursing, bigger does not always mean better. While we have an extensive network of job opportunities, our experienced team is dedicated to making a personalized provider experience a priority. There are a lot of moving parts in getting set up for a new assignment, but we take care of all the details along the way. Adventure awaits. Let Medical Edge Recruitment show you where to go next!
Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.
