Does it matter if a nurse is happy? There are more important things than being happy -- or so conventional wisdom would seem to imply. After all, people's lives are hanging on the line. Is laughter important when a patient's coding? Is there room for joy while providing skilled, compassionate professional care? Conventional wisdom is wrong -- if you want to be a good nurse, a great nurse, a nurse who makes a real difference in the lives of your patients -- you absolutely have to be happy.
Dr. Robert Holden, happiness expert and author of Shift Happens! discusses this matter in a recent issue of the Journal of Nursing Jocularity. His work on happiness has led him to believe that happy nurses are better nurses, and that a nurse who operates from a central core of joy is actually giving a gift to their patients.
Nurses often feel guilt -- even when they're experiencing great joy. Dr Holden says, "I hear people saying they feel guilt feeling joy when theyre caring for someone so gravely ill. But your guilt doesnt help the patient. You can empathize with the patient " which does help! " and still be centered in your own love and joy. Your smile is medicine. Your quiet joy can transmit itself to another person."
Professionalism is highly desirable. This is especially true in a tight job market: there are more nurses than nursing jobs, and it's not unusual for a nurse to find herself 'called off' to save the facility money. Many nurses hesitate to embrace joy and use humor for fear of not being professional enough and jeopardizing their professional lives.
Increased empathy, enhanced stress management, reduced rates of burnout, and a minimization of nurse-to-nurse hostility and interpersonal workplace conflict are all positive side effects of being a happier nurse. Patch Adams has long advocated for happiness and joy in the health care system, and has devoted his entire life to spreading that message.
Want to start feeling happier immediately? Give up the search for happiness! Happiness does not exist outside of ourselves. According to Dr. Robert Holden, we all have a place within ourselves where we are already happy, where we already are filled with joy. The trick is to connect with that part of ourselves and give that joy prominence in our everyday lives.
Put on your own oxygen mask first! That's sage advice -- and advice that is difficult for many nurses to hear. We're very socialized to take care of everyone else's needs first: making sure the patient is okay, the doctor placated, the patient's family comfortable...all the while neglecting to notice we're turning blue from lack of O2! Remedy the situation by committing to putting yourself first in your own life. You need to do that to be able to care for others.
The pressures of healthcare are intense. There's so much to do: you have to operate at an almost manic pace just to keep up. This forces us into machine-like roles -- but health care can not, should not, be automated. Right now, we need to start being more loving and kind to each other. This will benefit the patients -- and it will benefit us!
About the Author:
The Journal of Nursing Jocularity proves that laughter is really the best medicine! With celebrity interviews, stories from the floor, nursing jokes and humor, crazy cartoons and nurse horoscopes, it's laugh out loud funny!
View this post on my blog: http://travelnursesuccess.com/realizing-happiness-essential-for-nurses
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