Coping With Stressful Situations | Professional Transitions

Running head: PROFESSIONAL TRANSITIONS 1
PROFESSIONAL RANSITIONS
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation

PROFESSIONAL TRANSITIONS 2
COPING WITH STRESSFUL SITUATIONS
Description
Stress is one of the major issues that Nurses have to deal with in the course of their
personal and professional duties. Stress among nurses may be attributed to several issues
including poor interpersonal relationships, shift work, long working hours, emotional demands of
families and patients, and physical labor. Unmanaged stress among nurses may be detrimental to
both the health of a nurse and the quality of healthcare (Roberts, Grubb & Grosch, 2012). Many
time nurses quit their jobs because of their inability to handle stress. I have therefore chosen this
topic for the crucial role it plays in the improvement of quality of care.
Personal self-reflection
Before enrolling for this course there were so many things that I didn’t know about stress
in the nursing profession and dealing with stressful situations. However, as I start my
professional practice,I am well equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to be
incorporated when dealing with a stressful situation. Therefore, I am confident that moving into
professional practice,I am well prepared to deal with stress within the clinical setting. I feel that
there are multiple areas that more critical to me as a nurse. I am happy to learn that stressful
situations are unavoidable in the clinical setting. I am also happy to learn that such situations can
be dealt with successfully if the right approach is employed. Top of the list of priorities are the
steps I should take when dealing with stressful situations.
To start with,Talking about issues stressing me with colleagues and peers is one of the
most important areas that will help me deal with stress. This is so important to me because
generally, I am a person who is not very open about personal issues. In this regard, I consider it
important to solve my personal issues without involving third parties. However, it delights me to

PROFESSIONAL TRANSITIONS 3
learn that sharing with others can help me to cope with stressful situations. As opposed to the
style that I am used to, sharing with family members, co-workers and friends that I trust will
minimize the probability of hating my work as a nurse. Additionally, hiding my emotions might
have a grave impact on my life forever.
As a nurse, I also understand that effective stress management is important to me as a
person and my patients as well. I feel it is my duty at all times to ensure that I deal with stressful
situations in a way that does not jeopardize my ability to carry out my duties effectively. On, the
same note I feel obliged to ensure that my patients’ rights and needs are taken care of
irrespective of the situation in which I will be operating.
Thirdly, as a practicing nurse, I will be required to work within a team from time to time.
From my previous experiences, I know quite well that working in a team has its challenges.
Therefore, in line with doing my part in mitigating stressful situations in groups, I need to ensure
that I keep my group members updated about my undertakings on a particular day as well as the
part of the teamwork that I have already completed. This is likely to minimize unnecessary
misunderstandings and lead to better performance for the group and me.
Evaluation
Stressful situations can have both positive and negative repercussions. For a practicing
nurse, such situations can offer learning opportunities or lead to detrimental effects for them and
their patients (Sharma, Davey, Shukla, Shrivastava & Bansal, 2014). Stress has been attributed to
many negative outcomes for nurses as well as patients. For nurses, stressful situations may lead
to burnout. Additionally, they may also affect the quality of services delivered by a nurse.
Management of stress in stressful situations is, therefore, an important aspect in the improvement
of the quality of care.