Stress can be emotional, physical, or spiritual. The first step in handling stress is to make sure we understand how we cope with it.

As nurses, we can make the assumptions that our personal life and our work life cause us stress. There is really no need to make a list of our stressors, as this might cause us more stress. But, we have all developed ways to handle our stress: Sometimes we develop adaptive ways (yoga class once a week) and other times we use maladaptive methods (being silent when you don’t like what someone has said to you).

Take a minute and learn how to cope with your stress:

1. Create a chart that lists coping methods you use
2. Separate them into those that help you and those that hinder you
3. Do more of what helps and systemically eliminate or change those that hinder

Source: Stressed Out About Difficult Patients, HCPro, Inc., 2007. Pick up your copy today.