Nursing

Nursing now exists in every country in some parts. It has become one of the most difficult and the same time interesting jobs as it helps to save lives to people. I think that one of the most difficult factor in this profession is psychological attitude of the nurse to his or her profession. According to my personal experience I can say that working as a nurse is very difficult not only in physiological aspect as you need to stay awake for 24 hours and that is a big stress to nervous system, especially when it happens regularly. The next thing is to be tolerant and understand that “every man even the worst has something good in himself”. That is probably could be called the norms of professional ethics, for working in health care centre it is very important to keep it.

So the working environment is not very good for nerves and general psychological statement. Different specialists recommend eastern meditative practice that incorporates spirit and body in order to provide not only physical but mental health also. Different methods of relaxation are recommended for those who are working in the stressful situations. Among them are yoga, pilates, meditation. Among those which are quite popular are dancing, drawing, music and many others. Some specialists advice to do yoga as it helping to re-concentrate during the hard day and working extra-hours people do need energy so called to open second breathe.  I thought that would be a good idea to try such a method of relaxation, to bring my thoughts and body together after the everyday stress at my work.

“Breath work is an integral part of yoga practice.  During times of stress, the tendency is to hold the breath, or to engage in shallow chest breathing.  In order to slow down the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) and tone the parasympathetic nervous system (equivalent to putting the brakes on the nervous system), practice this deep abdominal breath. By activating the parasympathetic response, the heart rate slows, blood pressure falls, the mind calms and the nervous system relaxes” (Cirone, 2002). The description of this technique could be easily found in the internet and there even would be no need to visit yoga center, I do not have lot’s of time and trying to use almost every free minute to devote it to improving the situation with my nervous system. Yoga tutors did not promise immediate affect, probably I could find some parallels with medical treatment, but they’ve promised to achieve the desirable affect in some time after the regular training and devoting some time to the exercises.

Work of nurse in every public hospital or medical centre is connected with everyday stress caused by the  multifunction’s of the job they do. Some kind of magic stick probably, in the certain sphere. It takes lots of nerves and concentration, to listen to all these endless complaints, screams, orders demands and also irregular working hours make me and many of my colleagues feel aggressive. And as it usually known we push the aggression out on our families and that is not good. Yoga exercises made are not only consisted of breathing. Different physical exercises that are to be done after the breathing exercise to provide calm and rational spiritual bound between body and soul. Yoga Tutors suggest exercises on shoulders:  “Stress often tends to manifest in the shoulder area.  During a stressful time, notice how your shoulders tend to ride up, the jaw clenches and perhaps a headache begins.  If you can relax the shoulder muscles, the stress cycle can be broken. In order to release the tension from the shoulders and upper back, circle the shoulders around, from front to back, really squeezing the shoulder blades together, and then reverse directions.  Next, tighten the shoulders up under the ears, and then relax and drop the shoulders” (Cirone, 2002).

This was not the one exercise yoga tutors suggest for nurses. In fact not only mental stresses influence the work of nurse, but also physical tiredness. They suggest “Wide Legged Forward Bend”: “Forward bends in yoga are known as excellent for stretching and relaxing the body, as well as improving mental concentration.  Former L.A. prosecutor and yoga practioner Marcia Clark states in Yoga Journal that her teacher recommends forward bends to help Clark collect her energy and turn her focus within.  This pose stretches and relaxes the legs, back, shoulders, and neck, and boosts energy, and feels great after sitting or standing for long periods.   An especially powerful variation of the forward bend is called the Standing Spread Legged Forward bend with clasped hands” (Cirone, 2002). In fact these are not the only exercises they suggest, but these short 5 minutes breaks for which I could find right at work. That was one of the main factors that attracted me in yoga, I could devote it just few free minutes at work and I will have an effect.

The effect is very interesting, as I get the feeling that I can overcome all the difficulties and have very strong support inside. In fact that is very popular mean of relaxation and way of overcoming through the difficult situation. I think that the work of nurse is very difficult and the methods of yoga and meditation will help me during further. I suppose that understanding people starts from understanding yourself. I think that yoga giving the ability to understand inner world of yourself that will help to understand people, working process and change attitude to all these things. That will lessen stressful situations and help to overcome difficulties.

In fact now there are many special courses of yoga for nurses. For those who do not have many time for special trainings can do these exercises themselves when possible, the effect will not be immediate but in the end you will find  that stressful situations are not making you feel  so depressed as it was earlier.

Sources:

• Radcliffe, M. (2000). "Doctors and nurses: new game, same result". British Medical Journal 320.
• What is yoga (2009) http://yoga.org.nz/what-is-yoga/yoga_relaxation.htm retrieved at 6th of October 2009
• Cirone M. (2002) In a Hurry? Yoga Quickly Rejuvenates
  While Reducing Stress, Nursing Spectrum, March 11, 2002
• Medical Yoga Stress Management (2006)