Holiday Stress Management for Nurses

Although the holidays can often be merry and bright for so many, holiday stress can also bring anxiety, depression or burnout for nurses. In fact, nurses reported the highest burnout levels during the week of November 26th to December 2nd last year. 

Increased patient volume, less hospital resources, and the emotional toll these demands can make require nurses to protect their wellbeing in healthy ways. Beyond the numbers, nurses need better insight about these holiday hazards as well as coping tools to counteract nurse stress. 

In this blog, you’ll better understand what leads to holiday burnout, effective stress management techniques, how to balance your work, family and holiday commitments, and ways to build a better support system for the holidays. So let’s dive in!

Understanding Holiday Stress for Nurses

Although holiday stresses can affect anyone, nurses are at increased risk of holiday burnout because they typically face extended shifts and larger patient loads during the season. The emotional toll this takes often leaves nurses struggling to maintain their wellbeing. 

Knowing the stress triggers, their impact and why nurses are more susceptible to holiday burnout can go a long way in offsetting the stress. 

Common Causes of Holiday Stress During the Season

Nurses experience several stressors during the holiday season that prove challenging. Greater patient volumes, with more severe illnesses and complex cases, present during this season. These increased patient loads and need for more urgent care combined with greater staff shortages places a heavier burden on nurses to provide effective patient care. This combination of factors make the holiday season especially challenging.   

How Holiday Stress Impacts Nurses Physically, Emotionally and Mentally

These seasonal stressors impact nurses in a whole host of ways. Physically, nurses can experience fatigue, compromised immunity, and sleep difficulty, which can also result in compromised nursing care ability. Mentally and emotionally, nurses can feel greater anxiety, irritability and a sense of burnout that can affect their job satisfaction and relationships in significant ways. 

Identifying these issues is crucial for nurses to proactively cope with their harmful effects. Untreated stress can affect their professional and personal life in more permanent ways as well. 

Why Nurses Are More Prone to Holiday Burnout

Nurses are particularly vulnerable to holiday burnout because of the physical demands of the job, its emotional nature and the often irregular hours it demands. Because hospitals are operating at higher capacity during this season and because more staff are taking holiday vacations, nurses must face these stressors more on their own. This leaves nurses more isolated, in a season that celebrates togetherness, to handle the workload.   

Effective Stress Management Techniques for Nurses

Finding effective stress management techniques for nurses is crucial for staying vigilant against holiday stressors. Implementing practical, straightforward strategies for self-care and healthy boundaries ensures you can keep calm during the holiday stress overload. Here are three empowering ways you can ensure “surge stress” don’t get the best of you:

Practicing Mindfulness to Stay Grounded

Mindfulness is a useful strategy throughout the small and big moments that can lead to stress. Whether you’re practicing presence by taking deeper breaths or completing a quick body scan to check in with yourself, you are making the choice to stay more grounded through stressful situations. By integrating these micro-moments of mindfulness, you can stay present with what is happening and overcome stress. 

Quick Relaxation Techniques You Can Use at Work

Applying quick relaxation techniques can be a smart way to counteract stress in a time-efficient manner. Simple strategies, like taking a moment for deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or even a relaxing walk down the corridor can help clear your mind and release tension. 

Consistently taking time when you need it to do these techniques can keep burnout and fatigue at bay. Remember, self-care is decided in those micro-moments that feel like we can and must choose ourselves.

Setting Boundaries to Avoid Overcommitment

One of the most powerful ways to overcome holiday stress is remembering and practicing saying no. Setting these necessary boundaries ensures that you prioritize what’s important and necessary over all the possible ways you can be helpful. 

For example, not taking on extra shifts when you’re tired ensures that you’re reenergized for patient care. By remembering that saying no is saying yes to your needs, boundaries and better self-care, nurses can avoid overcommitting to what could induce burnout.   

Balancing Work, Family, and Holiday Commitments

Balancing work, family and holiday responsibilities can be especially challenging during peak holiday stress times. The demands of long shifts, family celebrations, and holiday preparation expectations result in greater nurse stress, making it essential to find helpful relaxation strategies. Here are a few practical planning and prioritization strategies nurses can use to overcome holiday stress:

Tips for Managing Holiday Shifts Without Sacrificing Family Time

Although difficult, nurses can better manage holiday shifts without compromising family time with planning. Scheduling family time around shifts and celebrations on your off days can help blend family time with your work demands. 

The key to minimizing stressful overlaps is communicating your work schedule with your family and friends to manage expectations and build compromise about what to expect. Even brief, meaningful moments – like shared holiday breakfasts or virtual visits during your breaks – can help build stronger holiday bonds with family and friends. 

How to Say No When You're Feeling Overwhelmed

Don’t underestimate the value of good enough when it comes to meeting every shift demand or family activity. Striving for that rather than perfection will reduce the possibility of holiday burnout. Learning how to say no when you feel overwhelmed reinforces healthy boundaries at work and while taking time off. By prioritizing what you need through saying no, you can strike a more balanced approach to your holiday expectations. 

Planning Ahead to Reduce Holiday Stress

Proactively making a realistic holiday calendar of events, personal time and your nursing schedule, including making time for possible extra shifts, can go a long way in helping you reduce the season’s stress. 

Staying active with this calendar, to-do lists and reminders can help you break down your day and week into manageable tasks so you’re not overwhelmed by last-minute surprises. In this way, your pre-planning ensures you can stay on top of your holiday calendar. 

Building a Support System During the Holidays

A key factor in ensuring you have the resources to prevail during the holiday season is the people and quality of your support system. Having friends and family you can turn to when things get rough can make the difference in fatigue turning to burnout and enduring the challenges. 

A vital support system can provide comfort, guidance and practical strategies to overcome fatigue and holiday stress. Here are a few tips: 

Connecting with Fellow Nurses for Emotional Support

Grounding your holiday stress, including extensive patient demands, with that of your fellow nurses not only provides context and perspective but also helps orient you emotionally and mentally. Because they empathize with your situation in a way unique to the demands, nurses can provide a framework for how to prevail successfully every day. 

Daily check-ins and online nursing platforms can emotionally support you through this peak time. These can provide not only needed support and empathy, but practical tips and strategies to handle the challenges at hand. 

Reaching Out to Family and Friends When You Need It

Nurses can keep positive during the season by reaching out to friends and family to check in with what’s keeping them inspired in the holidays. Sharing work struggles and personal stressors with them helps you come up for air when you feel like you’re drowning in demands. Your emotional support circle can empathize, listen and encourage you in ways that keep you motivated.

Resources for Mental Health Support During the Holidays

Many nursing workplaces offer free or low-cost Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or even on-site counseling to help nurses prevail during the holiday season and year-round. Online platforms, mental health hotlines and in-person and virtual support groups also provide support nurses during these challenging times. 

Here are a few mental health support resources that can make the difference for nurses during the holidays:

• American Nurses Association (ANA) Wellness Initiative: Providing access to mental health hotlines, wellness webinars and nursing coping strategies, this initiative empowers nurses to successfully cope with stress.
• Operation Happy Nurse: An online community that helps nurses deal effectively with anxiety, depression and stress, it provides a safe space to share experiences and get support.
• The Therapy Aid Coalition: This group provides frontline workers free or low-cost therapy with accessible mental health support. 
• Headspace For Healthcare: Research has found that Headspace, a meditation and mindfulness app, effectively reduces stress among healthcare workers; the app provides guided meditations, sleep aids and mindfulness practices designed to reduce stress every day. 

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