Welcome to Episode 16 of the Haelan Nurse Chronicles podcast. I’m Dr. Lorre, and today we’re diving into a crucial topic that affects many nurses across the healthcare industry – nurse workplace violence and its impact on mental health. As we explore this sensitive subject, we’ll hear from nurses who have bravely shared their experiences with PTSD in the workplace, shedding light on the challenges they face and the need for change.
Join me as we discuss the prevalence of nurse workplace violence, the long-term effects on nurses’ mental and physical health, and strategies for addressing nurse-specific traumatization and PTSD. Together, we’ll explore ways to promote trauma-informed resources and support for nurses. Let’s create a safe and supportive environment for all nurses to thrive and flourish in their roles. Thank you for tuning in, and let’s begin the conversation on ending nurse-specific traumatization.
Let’s start with one nurse, who is stepping away from the profession to evaluate:
“I’ve been “on a break” since June. I’m starting to realize that none of the jobs in my area appeal to me. . .I’m not burned out; I’m roasted to ashes.
Roasted to ashes.
Wow.That’s a powerful description. In other words, this nurse is sharing that they are beyond burnout. What they may not realize is how profoundly they have been affected by avoidable nurse-specific traumatization.
This nurse could benefit from our compassion and support in the form of an evidence-based framework for nurse-specific traumatization, much like the one I am using in my nonprofit aimed at helping nurses to heal from just that.
Another nurses chimes in with,
“I tried to find a “safe” nursing job after being diagnosed with PTSD, and found there are none to be had locally, there is no place near me offering fair pay for safe work, let alone actual accountability and support. I left feeling like there was no good left to be done, just rushed, neglectful care in the name of helping admin get their next bonus while patients, nurses and caregivers suffer, hence the ‘extra crispy’ flair. I’m beyond burned out and never going back.”
That “extra crispy” flair, just like the previous nurse, describes symptoms that on the surface may appear to be burnout but are actually nurse-specific PTSD.
Here’s one more description, from a hospice nurse:
“Yep, I went to do HOSPICE admissions for six months. I Thought I couldn’t have found a better gig. I didn’t even have to get attached to patients who were dying but I got to feel like I was helping them achieve their EOL wishes? Sign me up. I learned pretty quickly hospice is all about money too. I would work 15 hours a day- over 60 hours a week and every time I spoke up about my hours I was ignored. I would work until 12-1am most nights finishing my charting after a day of seeing patients. I was sent way outside of my initially agreed upon territory. Once I drove 100 miles back and forth in one day and I was not getting paid nearly enough for gas. I’m back at the bedside because I’d rather be miserable for 36 hours a week than 60. It feels like no matter what you do as a nurse, you’ll be taken advantage of.”
I hope you can feel, as deeply as I do, the angst, despair, and desperation that these nurses are experiencing. None of them have the support they need to stay safe, healthy, and professionally well in their practices.
For those in the audience who may be feeling similarly, please know . . .
That there is hope.
That there is help.
That there is a roadmap.
That there is a community.
There is an evidence-based framework that you can tailor to your own unique experiences while healing with other nurses who are doing the same. And it harnesses and leverages the innate capacity for healing that each of us have within us.
Your pathway from being “extra crispy” burned out, or “roasted to ashes” is an Innate Care Plan that partners with the wisdom of your most ancient inner intelligence – the autonomic nervous system and the vagus nerve. Here’s the the Your Innate Care Plan looks like:
As you can see, we start within and work outward, healing and using the properties of neuroplasticity to build new ways of being in our practices and in the world.
Your innate care plan (YICP) starts with 3A’s. The first A is awareness that maybe there’s more to your perceived burnout than meets the eye; the awareness that deep healing is possible; the awareness that you’re not alone.
The second A is attending. This has to do with how we nurture, nourish, and attend to our autonomic nervous system, vagus nerve, and care for the unintegrated trauma artifacts that emerge for healing. These artifacts are stored in the body – muscle, skin, fascia, and nerve plexuses – until such time that conditions are favorable for healing.
Guess what. If you’re listening to this podcast or reading the transcript, then this is your invitation for healing, because conditions have never been more favorable. My nonprofit has a 13-week Break Up with Burnout for Nurses program that will guide you through your healing process.
The last A is alignment. This speaks to the frequent incongruence and dissonance between our inner and outer worlds. How many of us feel like we can barely drag ourselves out of bed or off the couch to go to work, and then perform like a highly satisfied nurse? Yes, we go to work and do our jobs to the best of our ability. But that is likely not what most nurses are actually feeling on the inside. This inner disconnectedness leads us to feel alone, hopeless, and miserable.
We’ll discuss the rest of the YICP components in a future episode. The most import thing, as legend Eckhart Tolle reminds us in his book The Power of Now:
“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within; secondary reality without.”
Nurses, you need not feel alone, trapped, stuck, or hopeless another day. There is help, and I will be with you every step of the way.
To learn how you’ve been affected and what you can do about it, please take this five-question self-assessment and we’ll send you a complete report so you can get started on your healing journey today.
Until next time, thank you for all that you are and do.
I see you.
I feel you.
I hear you.
And I am here for you.
From my healer’s heart to yours,
Dr. Lorre 💕
