Despite being a vocational profession, nursing can harm your health and overall well-being. The long hours, high stress, and irregular shift patterns can increase your risk of adopting negative health behaviors (like smoking and eating processed foods). They may result in fatigue, weight gain, cancer, and diabetes.

Unfortunately, traditionally marginalized minorities in America also have worse health outcomes than the rest of the population. According to the BMJ, minorities receive significantly worse healthcare in every US state, meaning you may struggle to find quality care despite working in the healthcare system.

These disparities require policy-level changes to address inequities and close the healthcare gap. Until then, however, you can protect your health and manage stress by becoming a wellbeing warrior. Championing your well-being can markedly improve your productivity, too, as you’ll be far more engaged when you feel rested, healthy, and have a positive outlook on life.

Managing Stress

Work stress is prevalent among minority nurses. This undermines many nurses’ job satisfaction and has led Black and Hispanic nurses to say they are 46% more likely to leave their employer than they were in 2008.

Prolonged periods of stress may be the reason why you feel tired all the time, too. Stress and work-related anxiety puts your body into a constant state of fight-or-flight and prevent you from adequately relaxing. If you experience heightened stress, you may find that you cannot fall asleep on time and could miss out on hours of valuable shut-eye.

The root cause of your work-related stress may be out of your hands. If you’re understaffed and overworked, it can be challenging to maintain balance and feel calm during the day. However, that doesn’t mean you should overlook stress-busting wellness interventions altogether. If you’re feeling the strain and need to find some calm in your life, consider taking steps to keep burnout at bay, which include:

• Banish blue screens from the bedroom and keep your sleeping area clean, cool, and dark to improve your sleep quality.
• Exercise regularly and aim to work up a sweat outside of work at least once daily. Even gentle exercise, like walking around local parks, can meaningfully reduce stress.
• Adjust your diet to eat more whole foods and drink more water. This will give you the energy you need to respond to emergencies throughout the day and will reduce your risk of developing chronic fatigue.
• Try to adopt a positive mindset and use a journal to record positive affirmations and things you’re grateful for today.

Adopting these habits won’t eliminate the cause of your stress, but they may help you become more resilient in the face of work-related anxiety. This can give you the energy to campaign for change and champion calls for increased well-being at work.

Incentivizing Well-being

Yoga, deep breathing, and a healthy diet will make you more resilient. However, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the fundamental issues causing you to feel stressed, burnt out, and fatigued. Addressing these issues directly is critical, as some employers may be unaware of the scale of discontent at your place of work.

You may not be able to campaign for better pay or reduce work hours, but you can champion calls for a better employee incentive program at your place of work. Effective employee incentive programs have many benefits, including:

• Improved productivity
• Enhanced morale and job satisfaction
• Accurate performance tracking

Highlighting these benefits to your employer may help them understand why a benefits program that incentivizes well-being is so essential. This can drastically reshape your relationship with work, too, as you’ll be able to accurately report the number of hours you work, the stress you feel, and the productivity barriers undermining your well-being.

Healthy Hobbies

Making changes at work is the best way to respond to work-related stress. However, you’ll still need to use your free time for sustained career satisfaction. This is why hobbies are so important, as they shape how you spend your time off and will innately boost your health, happiness, and well-being.

If you usually spend your free time scrolling on socials and completing household chores, consider switching things up in favor of hobbies that engage you mentally and support your physical health. For example, if you are passionate about nature and the world around you, consider developing a gardening hobby. Even if you don’t have a yard, you can garden by getting involved with community greenspaces and allotments.

Hobbies that improve your fitness can boost your mental resilience, too. For example, learning new yoga flows and mastering poses can give you a much-needed confidence boost that aids your efforts to feel empowered. This is crucial if you’re experiencing mission drift and need to refind your purpose as a nurse. Focusing on interests outside of work can renew your interest in nursing and help you feel energized when you return to work.

Conclusion

Becoming a well-being warrior can improve your health, happiness, and job satisfaction. Even simple changes like drinking more water and taking up hobbies like yoga can boost your energy and help you avoid conditions like fatigue. Just be sure to advocate for necessary changes at work, as no amount of journaling and positive mantras can overcome a work environment that does not support your wellness.