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April is Stress Awareness Month

Posted about 1 month ago in Awareness

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April is Stress Awareness Month.

Stress in Nurses

Stress amongst nurses is one of the most underappreciated yet impactful issues nurses face. It surfaces in so many aspects of a nurse’s work and personal life. The emotional demands are boundless and the physical demands/fatigue can be burdensome. The ethical/moral stresses of the job are always in the back of nurses’ minds as well. And that’s not even taking into account how nurses try to “turn it all off” when they are home with families and friends. This stress often affects the health of nurses and sometimes even the outcomes of patients and patient care. Furthermore, it undermines nurse retention rates and can even hurt the financial well-being of healthcare organizations. - American Nurses Association

Stress First Aid for Nurses

As part of the American Nurses Foundation Well-Being Initiative, the Stress and Burnout Prevention Program supports nurses by addressing burnout, managing stress, and increasing confidence.

What is the Stress and Burnout Prevention Pilot Program?

The American Nurses Foundation launched the Stress and Burnout Prevention Pilot Program to support nurses and to address burnout, manage stress, and increase confidence. Content is adapted by nurses for nurses. The pilot is made possible by generous support from the United Health Foundation.

This nurse-customized program:

  • Provides access to real-time resources and tools to help nurses understand the science behind what they are experiencing, and how to manage moments of extraordinary stress.
  • Leverages solutions that assist individual nurses, nurse leaders, and health care organizations to respond to and lessen the severity of nurse burnout and disengagement.
  • Creates a shared language around stress and burnout to lessen the stigma nurses may encounter when in need of help.

See the Stress First Aid for Nurses 

Stress in Cancer Patients

A disease such as cancer is often one of the most stressful experiences of a person's life. Coping with cancer can be more challenging with added stress from work, family, or financial concerns. Everyday stress can also make coping with a cancer diagnosis more difficult.

Stress has not been shown to cause cancer. But chronic stress may weaken the  immune system, causing other health problems and decreasing feelings of well-being.

- Cancer.net

Additional Resources for Oncology Nurses/Navigators and Patients: