Self-care in a pandemic has me thinking about the saying ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup’. Regardless if the hair salons or massage business is closed, we have to make ourselves a priority and find the time for our revamped self-care routines. Here are some ways I’ve been staying sane while ‘staying home.’

Self Care Starts with Self Love <3

To love means to learn the art of nourishing our happiness. If we think of things as loving ourselves and pouring into our own cups no matter how small, it changes the thought process behind it to “I love myself so I _____” Knowing your deserving of self-love; self-care becomes a tool to replenish said love. Do some internal work: journal, meditate, read a new book, devotionals/prayer, or take a social media break. Your mental health is key in staying strong during a fearful time, another helpful resource for me, has been therapy. It’s a listening, judgment-free, let it all out the type of environment – why wouldn’t you sign up?

Healthy Eating/Exercise/Sleep

Don’t burn the candle at both ends! All of us are working tirelessly and our minds, bodies, and souls are exhausted. The quickest way for us to leave ourselves even more vulnerable is to live unhealthily. Recharging your battery with the right stuff gives you the energy, push, and stamina to outlast these times. We’re all nurses so we know what endorphins do for our brain. So go get some, they’re free! Put more color in your diet. Get those 8 hours. Whatever you do, take care of yourself before you take care of others.

Put On Real Clothes!

“If you look good, you feel good” I know those sweats are comfy, but when was the last time you got dressed? I don’t mean roll out of bed my delivery guy is here dressed. I mean top and pants with no elastic waistband—Well its time to take yourself on a take-out date, meet your friends for a virtual happy hour, or try out a Tik Tok. You’ll feel more alive and like yourself, don’t you miss you?

Show Gratitude

I saw an affirmation that blew my mind: ‘the most powerful weapon against your daily battle is finding the courage to be grateful anyway’. We all are going through a lot right now but we are all also, very blessed. So remember that, put it out in the air, and breathe it in. The best advice I could give in this time is to be thankful for the laughs, the tears, and the life.

Sending You All Light & Love -Britt

Do you have any tips for staying sane during this time or some self-care tips for travel nurses? If you would like to share them please comment them below.

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Travel Nurse Guide: Step-by-Step (now offered in a PDF Downloadable version!)

This article was provided by Travel Nurse Across America®

While travel nursing has the perks of competitive pay, getting to visit new cities, and adventure, you’re still working. Each assignment you take offers new adventures, but it’s still important to take a work-free vacation as a travel nurse and enjoy yourself without worrying about your next shift. Taking even a short break in between assignments is a great way to arrive at your next assignment refreshed and ready to take on new challenges.

6 REASONS to Vacation as a TRAVEL NURSE

1. Moving Can Be Stressful

Every seasoned travel nurse learns how to be a pro at moving every few months. However, moving into a new apartment, getting used to a new city, getting accustomed to new job duties, and getting to know new coworkers and friends can take a toll on even the most extroverted traveler. Taking a work-free vacation once a year or more is a fantastic way to de-stress and enjoy leisure time before your next assignment.

2. It’s Good for You

All nurses know the importance of mental and physical health, and practicing self-care is crucial. Nursing is a hard occupation. You’re on your feet most of the day and responsible for taking care of your patients. Stress is a major cause of heart disease and high blood pressure, and studies even show that those who vacation reduce their risk of heart disease and heart attack!

3. They Make You a Happier Person

Research shows that chronic stress levels release hormones that can lead to depression and anxiety. Taking a stress-free vacation contributes to your mental health and happiness, and the effects will last longer than your vacation.

4. Taking Vacations Make you Better at your Job

Taking vacations makes you happier, and, logically, happy people perform better at work. In fact, one study showed that for each 10 additional vacation hours an employee took per year, their performance review was 8% higher.

5. Vacations Can Improve your Relationships

While it can be relaxing to vacation alone, taking vacations with family, close friends or your significant other can make your relationship stronger. Exploring new areas, enjoying stress-free leisure time without worry about work, and having new adventures together strengthens the bond with the people you care about most.

6. Vacations Help you Recharge

On assignment, you usually have a daily routine, and it’s easy to lose perspective and forget about life outside your next shift. On vacation, you have time to revisit your goals, explore new surroundings, and abandon your regular schedule to indulge in whatever you enjoy but don’t have enough time for at work. Taking regular vacations also helps prevent burnout in your career.

At Travel Nurse Across America, we know that you work hard, so we want to reward you with a free vacation! We are excited to offer three vacation choices for nurses that qualify for the promotion. Choose between a 3-day cruise, 2-nights in Las Vegas, NV, or 2-nights in Destin, FL! Whether you are ready to soak up the sun on the beach, set sail on a cruise adventure, or hit the Vegas strip, your free vacation is waiting for you!

The benefits to vacationing are clear – consider it a self-care necessity rather than an indulgence! It’s easy to say you will go and never get around to it. You only live once, so what are you waiting for?

BECOME A TRAVEL NURSE

Emotional intelligence, also known as EQ, is a mix of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. It’s more than just bedside manner. It is the ability to accurately determine the emotions of others (interpersonal, body language or people smarts), and the ability to manage and control your own emotions (intrapersonal, self or self-regulating smarts). It comes easier for some people than others, but it is something everyone can learn and benefit from bettering.

As travel nurses, we’re lucky. We get to see new places, meet new people, and get paid to do it! However, just as in any profession, there is always a chance of getting burnt out.

Maybe you’ve been on the road for weeks, answering calls every night, and you haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep for a month. Or maybe you’ve found yourself stuck in the middle of a natural disaster, and haven’t mentally prepared for the overload of work.

Burnout happens, and compassion fatigue can be an unfortunate result of overworking and stress. However, there’s a secret mental tool we can use to catch burn out before it overtakes us: emotional intelligence.

When it comes to the nursing profession, or more specifically to travel nursing, heightening your EQ could lead you down a road to better opportunities and interactions with patients. Here are five reasons improving your EQ could make you a better nurse.

#1 Develop Your Empathy

Empathy is important in our practice, and even more vital in our daily lives. Empathy allows us to relate and connect with others on a deeper level. As Brené Brown puts it in her Ted Talks on Empathy: “[Showing empathy] is a choice, and it is a vulnerable choice. Because in order to connect with you, I need to connect with something in myself that knows that feeling.”

A heightened emotional intelligence in nursing can improve our empathy. This can allow us to connect with patients who may have different backgrounds, but still need the best level of care.

However, burnout can sometimes come on much stronger if we’re a more empathetic person. Especially in nursing, when we often see death and sadness. Having heightened empathy can cause us to reach emotional exhaustion much faster. That is why learning to manage your own emotions (the other side of EQ) can balance out any potential for emotional fatigue.

#2 Prepare for the Worst

The common idiom life throws curve balls might be even more true for travel nurses. When you’re constantly on the road, in new places, surrounded by strangers, the chances for something to go wrong rise exponentially. However, emotional intelligence can help us navigate our own emotions to prepare for these more intense situations.

If we find ourselves in a sudden natural disaster zone, we can find a way to mentally buckle down and prepare for this increased stress. Similarly, we can know when we’re getting too stressed and need to take a step back. Self-care is essential to keeping our minds at ease, our hearts true, and our hands steady.

#3 Stay Healthier, Longer

As nurses, we are hyper aware of the way stress can cause harm to our bodies. However, it’s still tough to determine that within ourselves. When are we too stressed, and when is our stress actually healthy?

Luckily, by perfecting our EQ, we can determine when our stress reaches unhealthy levels. Additionally, we can potentially save ourselves from heart disease or other factors of chronic stress later in life. When we recognize the need for self-care, we can make the time for ourselves to find the best ways to relax.

#4 Relieve Tension Between Coworkers

Of course patients aren’t the only interactions we are going to have on these travels. Fellow nurses (stationary and traveling) will come in and out of our lives, and not all of them will be friendly. Improving our EQ can help us in many tense situations, especially between fellow nurses.

Heightened EQ is known for improving business communication – especially between managers and employees – and it can help in many different office formats. If you’re struggling with a fellow nurse, bring it up with them and see if you can talk through the issue. If not, then talk about it with your manager. It’s as simple as having a conversation and showing some empathy for our fellow nurses.

#5 Improve Your Treatment

The most important reason for nurses to avoid burnout is to never get apathetic on the job. When we’re beyond the point of burnout, we get irritable, tired, and get our anger and frustration leak into our words. When we’re burnout we can hurt those we are trying to help, and that goes against the code of ethics we are meant to follow.

Although we are not perfect beings (but we sure try to be), we can make ourselves better through regulating internal emotions through self-care and awareness, and by navigating around the emotions of others. When emotional situations arise, or we’re confronted by an upset patient, we can more accurately meet their needs by perfecting our EQ. We are more likely to listen, realize their concerns, and address them on their level.

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