HLTWHS006 Manage Personal Stressors in the Workplace Assessment

HLTWHS006 Manage personal stressors in the
work place
Assessment Instructions
Achieving competency
All 3 sections in this workbook must be answered correctly to receive a satisfactory grade for this
assessment. You must achieve a satisfactory result for each question in the workbook and include
referencing requirements to achieve a satisfactory result for this assessment.
This workbook is to be completed in your own time using available reliable sources such as the
course text books provided to you at orientation, credible internet sources such as the department
of health and other text and online journals available to you through the online library service
offered to all students and discussed at orientation.
It is important that you reference all sources of information that you use to obtain information used
in your answers. Referencing must be included and failure to adhere to this requirement will result
in a not satisfactory outcome for the assessment.
You are required to develop a personal stress management. It involves 3 sections:
Section 1 - Reflection and identification of a stressor and development of personal management plan
Section 2 - Implementation of the strategies in your management plan to assess their effectiveness
using two case scenarios
Section 3 - Evaluation of strategies from your management plan using the case scenarios.
This assessment is divided into sections which focus on the different legislative, policy and industrial
requirements for fulfilling competency in this unit
Within each section all questions must be answered.
Ensure you answer each part of the question with required amount of details.
Section 1 - Development of Personal Stress Management Plan
This assignment is for you to develop a personal stress management plan to cope with identified
triggers and stressors involved in the nursing environment. You are to reflect on issues that arose
while you were on clinical placement that caused you to experience stress. You will pick one issue
that will be used to then develop your personal stress management plan. These issues may have
included but not limited to:
 aspects of delivering care to clients,
 time management or staffing issues
 communication issues with colleagues
 personal issues impacting on the work environment
In this section you must address all the questions

Please note: The space below is not indicative to the required length of the response; you are to
ensure that you thoroughly answer the question.
1. Describe a source of stress you experienced while working as a Student Enrolled Nurse in the
clinical environment. (minimum of 200 word)
As a Student Enrolled Nurse in the clinical environment, I encountered several
sources of stress, the most disturbing one being delivering care to clients and patients.
There were stressful working conditions brought about by the understaffed institution and
the larger than normal client admissions. An overcrowded institution often means minimal
resources. Clients and patients issues, for example mental illness, aged clients who don’t
know how to carry themselves also affected the way to deliver care to them. Some are
stubborn and disobedient. They had constant demands that were difficult to respond to
owing to the fact that they were many clients to tend to. The multiple tasks that were
impossible to combine made it difficult to deliver proper care to the client at hand. With
very poor supervisory support, there was no one to turn to with some issues or problems
experienced, and this led to frustration from the clients as they could not understand the
situation at hand or why they didn’t get a delegated nurse to themselves. There was low
input into decision-making, especially with lack of supervision. Hence, more often than
not, some duties were left undone or not completed and some clients failed to receive
constant care, leading to major frustration, pressure and stress on my part.
Trainer comments: S NYS
☐ ☐
___/5
2. What were the triggers for the event? ( To answer this question, the triggers are not only
what occurred on the ward but also what was happening in your personal life at that time
that may have impacted)
Triggers included the overcrowded state of the environment, leading to understaffed
personnel. This meant overload in the amount of work. Weariness, lack of support were
also causes that lead to major source of stress. Uncertainty in waiting for a particular
outcome in various situations and circumstances also acted as triggers.
Trainer comments: S NYS
☐ ☐
___/4
3. Describe your physical, cognitive, behavioural and emotional response to the stressor.

My physical responses included fatigue and exhaustion, nausea, headaches appetite
change, insomnia, and overactivity and underactivity in some situations.
Cognitive responses included constant worrying about outcomes, feeling light headed,
confusion, forgetfulness, overwhelming feelings, negative thoughts and attitudes and
concentration issues.
Behavioural responses were, constant withdrawal from colleagues due to the pressure, poor
relationships with those I interacted with, feeling lonely, pacing and failing to relax
especially when waiting for an outcome, avoiding other people, decreased sex drive, and
absenteeism.
Emotional responses were sadness when something failed to turn out as I wanted it to,
frustration, anxiety, guilt, sudden excitement or anger, apathy, helplessness and burnout.
Trainer comments: S NYS
☐ ☐
___/8
4. Describe a minimum of three (3) strategies you used to effectively prevent, reduce and
management the stressor.
From a study by Elizabeth Scott, quick stress relievers like breathing exercises are
helpful in reducing stress. I practiced these breathing exercises, that basically involve
breathing at a certain pace while counting. This eventually calmed me down and felt better
enough to think straight. 1
By adapting to the stressor and changing myself. A study by Lawrence Robinson suggests
focusing on the positive and adjusting your attitude towards a stressful situation. I
implemented this strategy looked the bigger picture in the situation at hand. I used the
policy, ‘If it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t spend 5 minutes thinking or stressing about it.’2
By changing myself too, I set realistic standards, and even what I expected from clients
and patients changed because I then understood that with some patience needed to be
practiced. Perfectionism in itself can be a major source of stress. Hence I became more
realistic with my goals and standards and adjusted them to fit into every situation.3
I learnt to accept things not changeable and the importance of it, as the study by Robinson
suggests as well. I found out that, the sooner I accept and adjust, the sooner things work out
for the better. Especially when it comes to clients and patients who need different kinds
and ways of help. I had to accept them as they are, as well as accepting their situations and
find a way to deliver care to them effectively and efficiently.4
1 Elizabeth Scott, An overview of stress management, (2018)
2 L Robinson, et al, Stress Management : Using SelfHelp Techniques for Dealing with Stress ( Published under
Helpguide.org, 2018)
3 L Robinson (n4)
4 L Robinson (n5)

From the study by Lawrence Robinson, avoiding unnecessary stress is a good way to
prevent it.5Shchuka Aljona’s study suggests this as an important way, because when one
knows stress and the causes of it, there are more chances of him or her to prevent its
appearing.6 I took this into action and practiced staying away from people who brought
unnecessary extra stress baggage for the moment. And by taking charge of my
environment, I found my stress levels reducing and I was able to prevent more stress .
I adjusted my nutrition. A study by Christian Nordqvist showed that having a healthy
balanced diet helps maintain the immune system in stressful times. Poor nutrition will
eventually add on to your stress and lead to ill-health. By adjusting my diet and including
lots of fruits and vegetables, I realised that I gradually became stress resilient.7
Trainer comments: S NYS
☐ ☐
___/5
5. What are some of the internal and external sources that could be used for additional support
to help you through this situation? ( You must have 2 internal and 2 external sources)
Internal sources that could be used are sharing my issues/triggers/problems with my
relatives or colleagues. As Gerard Lebel suggests in his article sharing problems is
important because a defined problem is a problem half solved. My colleagues, friends or
family might have also gone through a similar situation as you are, and might help me get
through the stressful period. 8
Another internal source of could be relaxation. Finding time for self-improvement is
important as it enables individuals take control over their behaviours. Taking breaks and
utilizing them to relax and recharge. 9
External sources could be finding your own destressor. Christian Nordqvist suggests that
people should turn to helpful and healthy strategies that help them relax, for example
jogging, reading a book, going to the gym or going for walks. This activities help in
relaxing and eventually they reduce, prevent and manage stress and stress levels. 10
Another external source includes sleep Ensuring that you get enough sleep and rest is
important and is necessary for proper functioning of a human being. Gerard, in his article,
provides rules for good sleep hygiene. 11
5 L Robinson (n3)
6 Aljona Shchuka, Stress work :Stress Management, (2018)
7 Christian Nordqvist, Why stress happens and how to manage it, ( Medical News Today, 2017)
8 Gerard Lebel, Self guide for stress management, (2011).
9 S Giga, et al, Development of a framework for a comprehensive approach to stress management interventions
at work, (2003).
10 Christian Nordqvist, Why stress happens and how to manage it, (Medical News Today, 2017)
11 Gerard (n61)