Today’s Nurse Moms are working harder than ever before. No longer do they merely take care of their own children; they also have to juggle administrative duties and clinical responsibilities with home-making and child care – and the only way you can be successful at this is by taking care of yourself too!
In this article, we will look at a few simple ways to stay healthy, happy, and productive. You can do this without sacrificing your family or wasting precious time!
Why Nurse Moms Need to Take Care of Themselves Too
Being a nurse mom means that you are not only responsible for your own health but also taking care of a family. You may be on-call 24/7, and depending on the situation, this can be pretty exhausting.
Nurse moms are always busy. If you do not make time for yourself to relax and release stress, you will eventually fall apart. This will lead to poor decision-making, decreased productivity, and overall less than ideal outcomes in your job performance.
Here are a few ways that you can focus on looking after yourself and be both the best nurse and the best mom you can be.
Worry Less
It does no good to be angry or overworked. Instead, take time out for yourself to relax, get up, and walk around in nature or just be still quietly.
During your nursing studies, you will have learned all about stress and how anxiety can actually lead to more health problems.
When you are too busy to worry about everything, and you are on a roll, the world doesn’t seem quite as scary! Try to spend as much time as possible taking care of yourself, even if this means making some changes in your lifestyle.
Find Out How to Relax
There are many ways in which you can relax, but the first and most important is to find out how to calm down.
You can learn to meditate or listen to calming music and just take some time out. This can be done at any time of the day, but it is especially important when you are preoccupied with taking care of others.
Try recording some relaxing music or reaching out to friends who can help you de-stress. When you are busy and tired, it is easy to get caught up in the stress that can creep up on you at times! You need to try and prevent this from happening!
Get Organized
A great way to organize yourself is by setting up systems for everything you do (for example, use a file system for all of your paperwork) and sticking with it religiously!
Being organized will be especially important if you decide to embark on further education and improve your nurse skills.
Studying courses like an NP certificate program requires dedication and hard work. While you may have both, it will be difficult to achieve if you’re not organized both at work and home.
Get Enough Rest
As a nurse mom, it is easy to get caught up in the busyness of your home and your career. You can learn to rest more by taking a few goals and then working towards achieving them. Try it!
For instance, you might want to relax after dinner every night for 15 minutes, or maybe you want to take a rest every hour during your long shifts at the hospital – it doesn’t really matter how you do this as long as you finish!
Eat Healthily & Stay Active
Being active will help keep you stress-free and will also help strengthen your immune system. You don’t always have to go to the gym; you can get exercise at home.
You can bike or walk with your children, or you can even do a couple of house chores! As long as you are moving around and not sitting in front of a computer screen all day, you will be doing your body a world of good!
Another crazy-important thing is to get enough sleep so that your body and mind can rejuvenate and repair. If you are extremely busy, this may be difficult, but try to get at least seven hours of sleep every night. Sleeping is an important part of being healthy and happy!
Remember: Good health means more energy, which means more time for family, friends, school, and work.
Plan Your Days
If you want to be as productive as possible, it helps to plan your days out. Plan back-to-back meetings so that you will not have to get up and run back and forth between two places. You can also plan appointments with friends and family so that everything is all lined up!
You can try blocking out a couple of hours each day for yourself so that you can help take care of yourself without worrying about other things. You can even take an hour to just sit down, relax, and enjoy a cup of tea! It’s not about quantity but about quality!
Take Care of Your Body
If you have been a busy nurse mom, you probably know that your body isn’t quite the same as it was when you were younger. You can do some of the things to help keep healthy and be alert so that you can still be productive at work!
Eat a well-balanced diet, and your job will thank you for being wise with your energy. Your body will also be able to function better if it is given the right nutrition. If you are lacking any nutrients, ensure that they are supplemented through a healthy diet and (if necessary) medical intervention.
Stay Up to Date
Do yourself and your job a favor by keeping up with the latest news and developments in regards to your field! For example, subscribe to journals, magazines, and other newsletters.
Stay on top of anything that might be important to you or that might be useful in furthering your education. Reading is one of the best ways to expand your knowledge and gain skills that can help you in the future.
As a nurse, staying current is also important because it helps you to be aware of trends and new developments in your field, which can help you in your career.