As an aspiring mental health nurse, your dedication to caring for others can sometimes overshadow the importance of your own wellbeing. Helping-oriented people often view self-care as a form of self-indulgence. Perhaps the idea of focusing on yourself makes you feel self-centered and selfish, filling you with shame.
This view is a hazard to your health. It’s crucial to remember that you cannot pour from an empty cup. Prioritizing your wellbeing is essential for maintaining the resilience and compassion needed to support those in your care.
In this article, we’ll outline common stressors experienced by mental health nurses, along with a range of tips to help you prevent poor mental wellbeing, compassion fatigue and burnout.
Common Stressors for Mental Health Nurses
Recognizing stressors is an important step in safeguarding your mental wellbeing, as understanding the challenges you may face allows you to take proactive measures to mitigate the impact of stress.
Here are some common stressors encountered by mental health nurses:
- Emotional intensity. Dealing with people in crisis or facing severe mental health issues can be emotionally demanding. Witnessing the emotional struggles of patients can lead to vicarious trauma and emotional exhaustion.
- Workload issues. Mental health units may experience high patient acuity and complex cases, leading to heavy workloads. Staff shortages or inadequate staffing levels can increase the pressure on mental health nurses, affecting their ability to provide quality care.
- Violence and aggression. You may face the risk of violence or aggressive behaviour from patients. Managing and de-escalating potentially dangerous situations can be stressful.
- Shift work and irregular hours. This work often involves working in shifts, including nights and weekends. Irregular schedules can disrupt your sleep patterns and personal life, contributing to fatigue and increased stress.
- Academic stress. The academic journey for mental health nurses typically involves rigorous coursework, examinations, research components, and practical experience. The need to excel academically, meet deadlines, and perform well in assessments can create significant pressure, especially when you’re balancing your degree with other commitments.
Online MSN-PMHNP degrees offer flexibility in scheduling and can be more accessible for people with multiple responsibilities. However, it's essential to note that the effectiveness of online programs may vary, and individual preferences and learning styles should be considered.
Keep reading to discover some tips to help you navigate the demanding yet rewarding path of mental health nursing.
Establish Boundaries
Aspiring mental health nurses should prioritize establishing clear professional boundaries. While empathy is a valuable trait, it’s equally crucial to recognize when to detach emotionally to prevent burnout. Learning to strike a balance between compassionate care and maintaining a professional distance is essential for sustained wellbeing.
One way to do this is to clearly understand your role as a mental health nurse. Define the scope of your responsibilities and recognize the limits of your professional capacity. This clarity helps in maintaining focus on providing quality care while avoiding unnecessary emotional burden.
You could also create rituals that help you transition from work to personal life. This could be as simple as changing into different clothing, doing a brief mindfulness exercise, or lighting a candle.
Make Time for Pleasurable Activities
"When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life." – Jean Shinoda Bolen
Another strategy for maintaining a healthy balance between empathy and professional distance is to regularly engage in activities that bring you joy. Whether it's a hobby, exercise, art, music, or spending time in nature, these activities serve as essential outlets for stress relief.
We recommend diarising at least two pleasurable activities a week. By intentionally carving out time for activities you enjoy, you create a positive work-life balance and a sense of fulfilment. This emotional replenishment is key to preventing burnout and sustaining your passion for mental health nursing over the long term.
Want some inspiration? Be sure to check out our self-care checklists in our Free Tools Library.
Engage in Regular Self-Reflection
Engaging in regular self-reflection, both positive and challenging, fosters self-awareness and resilience. Recognizing what situations evoke strong emotions or stress allows you to take proactive strategies to manage these challenges and prevent potential burnout.
In addition, reflecting on positive experiences allows you to celebrate your successes. Recognizing moments of connection, progress, or positive outcomes reinforces a sense of achievement, boosts morale, and serves as a reminder of the meaningful impact you make in your patients' lives.
Our Daily Mental Health Journal tool can help you with this.
Examine Your Mindset
As noted in this article, five mindset factors associated with compassion fatigue are:
- High expectations of work
- Idealistic worldviews
- The view that self-care is selfish
- A lack of strong personal boundaries
- An overdeveloped sense of responsibility
If any of the above resonate with you, take some time to explore your beliefs and how they impact your mental wellbeing. You may wish to do this through journalling or speaking with a trusted friend, colleague, or supervisor.
Final Thoughts
In the demanding field of mental health nursing, prioritizing your mental wellbeing is a necessity. It’s important to develop awareness around your stressors and a range of coping skills to safeguard your mental wellbeing. We hope this article has provided you with some food for thought when it comes to navigating the challenging yet rewarding path of mental health nursing.
Build Your Mental Wellbeing Toolkit
Research shows that self-help materials are often enough for people to overcome mild to moderate mental health difficulties without professional support.
If you’re interested in a self-guided program that includes tools from CBT, ACT and more, be sure to check out The Mental Wellbeing Toolkit. It's "like 10 therapy sessions in one."
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