Strategies to Prevent and Manage Stress in a Clinical Setting for Enrolled Nurses

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Nursing Assignment
by
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1. Identify seven (7) common sources of stress in a clinical setting when working as an
enrolled nurse.
i. Working environment i.e wrong ventilation, lighting and the inadequate
temperature levels (Gholamzadeh, Sharif, and Rad, 2011).
ii. Interpersonal relationships such as conflicts with co-workers, lack of staff
support, and lack of understanding and support from the managers (Letvak, and
Buck, 2008).
iii. Organizational factors such as increased job demands, work overload, and
reduced advancement opportunities.
iv. Individual characteristics such as inadequate working experience and education
in handling the emotional needs of patients and management which causes
anxiety within the nursing staff.
v. Strict and unreasonable deadlines
vi. Exposure to infectious diseases
vii. Role ambiguity and conflict
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2. Identify four (4) personal triggers to stress.
i. Fear and uncertainty
ii. Attitude and perceptions
iii. Unrealistic expectations
iv. Change
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3. Briefly describe four (4) strategies to prevent, reduce and manage stress.
i. Avoid unnecessary stress. One should learn to say no to some things and thus
be able to stick to the limits and exercise control of one’s environment.
ii. Alter the situation. One can brainstorm on what he/she can dot to change the
situation in order to avoid recurrence of the problem in the future. This
strategy can be achieved by freely expressing ones feelings instead of
suppressing them. One must also be willing to compromise but still be more
assertive
iii. Adapt to the stressor. If the stressor is not alterable, then the individual must
be flexible and willing to change in order to adapt to the stressful situation.
This can be accomplished by reframing the problems, looking at the big
picture, adjusting of ones standards and being optimistic.
iv. Accept the situations that can’t be altered. There are some stress sources that
are inevitable, thus demanding someone to accept things as they are in order
to cope with stress (Chiesa, and Serretti, 2009).
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4. Briefly describe two (2) internal and two (2) external options and resources for additional
support in managing personal stress in a nursing context.
Internal options for managing personal stress
i. Attitude adjustment. The way a nurse thinks will positively or negatively affect
his or her emotional and physical well-being. Thus, one should exercise in