Back to Basics

Judy A. Rollins, PhD, RN

Posted: 06/28/2012; Pediatr Nurs. 2012;38(3):129-130. © 2012 Jannetti Publications, Inc.

Abstract and Introduction

Introduction

As I write this during National Nurses Week, I am thinking about the many ways this wonderful profession we share has evolved over the years. However, despite the many advances, one thing has not changed: nurses continue to experience stress at higher rates than most other groups (American Holistic Nurses Association, 2012).
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Heath (NIOSH) (1999) defines work stress, job stress, occupational stress, or work-related stress (WRS) as "the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker" (para. 10). Occupational stressors vary among health care occupations and even within occupations, depending on the task being performed. Studies of nurses have found the following factors to be linked with stress (NIOSH, 2008):

• Work overload.
• Time pressure.
• Lack of social support at work (especially from supervisors, head nurses, and higher management).
• Exposure to infectious diseases.
• Needle stick injuries.
• Exposure to work-related violence or threats.
• Sleep deprivation.
• Role ambiguity and conflict.
• Understaffing.
• Career development issues.
• Dealing with difficult or seriously ill patients.

Nurses understand the potential for serious injury to patients if they make mistakes. They know that patients and families are suffering, and that some patients die. In addition to fear of needle sticks, they may fear injuries from heavy lifting and pulling. They sometimes have to struggle to be gracious in the face of abuse, and they are aware of the potential for lawsuits. It is not surprising that when compared with many other jobs, health care workers have higher rates of substance abuse, suicide, depression, and anxiety (Ondash, 2008). Further, a recent research brief reports that U.S. hospital workers are less healthy, consume more medical services, and accrue higher health care costs than the U.S. workforce at large (Thomson Reuters, 2011).
The literature is overflowing with suggestions for controlling stress in the workplace. NIOSH suggests an approach that combines organizational change and stress management, and yet acknowledges that even the most conscientious efforts in these areas are unlikely to eliminate stress completely for all workers (NIOSH, 2008). Because we face stressors in other aspects of our lives, an individual approach to managing stress could complement the strategies our workplace implements and can perhaps lead to more positive outcomes.

The Power of Meaningful Activity

What can we do? It could be much easier than you imagine: Use your hands and make something. Meaningful hand use is activity that is both something you enjoy and something that is purposeful or linked to someone you care about. Barron and Baron (2012) explain:

Whether it is mundane or routine, whether it involves concentration and construction or rote movement and free thought, hand use has meaning if it nurtures your family or others, improves the aesthetics of your surroundings, awakens your inner life, or makes you feel calm because it creates order (p. 44).

Creating or tending things by hand enhances mental health and makes us happy. Lambert (2008) discovered many benefits of hand use, including:

• Decreased depression.
• Decreased anxiety.
• Decreased stress.
• Increased positive emotions.
• Enhanced cognition.
• Decreased loneliness by increasing human touch and social contacts.
• Increased concentration.
• Increased self-esteem.

Exploring the relationship between hand use, current cultural habits, and mood, Lambert (2008) proposes that hands-on work satisfies our primal need to make things and could also be an antidote for our cultural malaise. The fact that we spend too much time on technological devices and we buy almost all of what we need rather than having to make it has deprived us of processes that provide pleasure, meaning, and pride. Lambert's unique theory suggests that physical effort directed toward tangible outcomes activates particular regions of the brain and builds resilience against the emotional emptiness and negative thinking associated with depression. She reminds us of the importance of physical activity in establishing control in a fast-paced culture that is focused more on the prospect of immediate gratification than savoring the fruits of our labor.
When we make, repair, or create things, we feel vital and effective. It is no longer about reaching one's potential as about doing something interesting; it is less about ambition and more about living. According to Barron and Baron (2012), when we are dissolved in a deeply absorbing task, we lose self-consciousness and pass the time in a contented state. When we do meaningful work with our hands, a neurochemical feedback floods our brains with dopamine and serotonin; we have evolved to release these chemicals both to reward ourselves for working with our hands and to motivate ourselves to do it some more (Lambert, 2008). Thought to be a mechanism of survival, the kind of work that dispenses these chemicals is anything with a survivalbased outcome. "That includes procuring food and shelter (think dicing onions or remodeling the bathroom) as well as grooming and clothing ourselves (French-braiding your daughter's hair, sewing a dress)" (Newman, 2011, para 4).
As nurses, our hands are very much involved in the survival of others. Perhaps the reward of the feelgood chemicals is one reason we continue on despite the stress.
We live in a fast-paced world with a growing number of time-saving options. However, not all of these options are advancing our quality of life. Think about what we do with our hands (texting, pushing buttons on the microwave to "cook" a prepared meal, answering email). Newman (2011) suggests that to be happier, we should try to make our lives a little harder. For example, rather than rushing off to the store to buy a child a costume for a play, try sewing one. In a study about sewing, Reiner (1995) found that women who sew experience a significant drop in heart rate, blood pressure, and perspiration. I am betting that a study conducted today would likely show the similar outcomes for men who sew.
What is something creative and meaningful that you might do with your hands? Bake a cake? Cook a stew? Knit some booties? Rake leaves instead of using a leaf blower? Plant a small garden? Make handmade invitations instead of sending an e-vite? Paint a picture? Write some poetry?
Remember as a child how good it felt to say, "I made it with my own two hands?" Explore some of the many and often very easy ways that your hands can help you navigate and balance the challenges of nursing today. Let your creativity and meaningful hand use enhance your well-being. Take a bit of time to return to the basics.

[ CLOSE WINDOW ]

References

• American Holistic Nurses Association. (2012). Holistic stress management for nurses. Retrieved from http://www.ahna.org/resources/stressmanagement/tabid/1229/default.aspx
• Barron, C., & Barron, A. (2012). The creativity cure. New York: Scribner.
• Lambert, K. (2008). Lifting depression: A neuroscientist's hands-on approach to activating your brain's healing power. New York: Basic Books.
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (1999). Stress…at work. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99–101. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99–101/
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2008). Exposure to stress: Occupational hazards in hospitals. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 2008–136. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2008–136/pdfs/2008–136.pdf
• Newman, C. (2011). Want to be happier? Try making your life a little harder. Ladies Home Journal. Retrieved from http://www.lhj.com/health/stress/mood-boosters/want-to-be-happier/
• Ondash, E. (2008). Hospitals explore ways to reduce nurses' stress. Retrieved from http://www.amnhealthcare.com/news/features-details.aspx?Id=7216
• Reiner, R. (1995). Stress reduction's common thread. Journal of the American Medical Association, 274(4), 291.
• Thomson Reuters. (2011). Sicker and costlier: Healthcare utilization of U.S. hospital employees. Retrieved from http://img.en25.com/Web/ThomsonReuters/H_PAY_EMP_1108_10237_HHE_ Report_WEB.PDF

Pediatr Nurs. 2012;38(3):129-130. © 2012 Jannetti Publications, Inc.