November Newsletter: Nursing Student Burnout

Welcome to the Beating Burnout Newsletter. A digital magazine dedicated to living mindfully, deeper reflection and personal growth.

🟣 A quick check-in…

We’re taking care of people. That’s our job.
But we are human too, and all we have is our own health.
That health is the resource we need to work, play, connect and live.

Just what is it that we’re chasing, that we’re sprinting so hard for?
Are we putting other people’s needs in front of our own sleep, exercise and meals?

Sometimes we find ourselves with no choice but to run,
But this high-stress state is not sustainable over time.

We must find ways to protect and nurture ourselves.

📔 What is Burnout?

Nursing school can be a continuous go-go-go with overwhelming amounts of information to memorize, clinical hours to attend, exams and written essays, and emotionally taxing interactions. This can drive our bodies to shift into the sympathetic nervous system.

In the short term, it can help increase our energy and focus. But as the semester progresses, chronic stress can lead to increased feelings of burnout - a state of complete mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.

A Swedish study found the burnout rate among first-year nursing students was 29.7% and for second-year students, it was 36.9%. Although common, there are 3 key steps we can take to manage burnout!

1: Recognize the Signs and Symptoms

Listen to your body. All too often, we push aside our fatigue thinking that it is what is expected of nursing school. Although having resilience and discipline to get through hard times can be useful, we need to remember to pause and check-in: am I having persisting and pervasive symptoms of burnout?

2: Reverse Burnout Through Prevention and Micro-Breaks

Prevention is key: Planning

“At certain times, students will be extremely busy with courses and activities - the trick is to have them plan ahead so that they can avoid being overwhelmed when deadlines appear”

• 📆 Deadlines: Writing all of your deadlines in an accessible list, and inputting them in your calendar.

• 🛠️ Long Projects: Set short goals in your calendar to avoid procrastinating until the last minute. The University of Toronto has a free to use assignment planner that can break down academic assignments into a set of reasonable steps.

• 📜 Tests: Set reminders every few days or weeks that prompt you to practice active recall of previous lecture materials! The more often you review the course material, the easier it will be to remember.

• ☑️ Small Assignments: Set alarms and reminders a few days before for assignments that are easy to forget, such as Mastering A&P Assignments, CEO Reflection Posts, odd certificates for online simulations, etc.

• 💕 Breaks and Downtime: Set aside time in your calendar for ‘downtime’. You don’t have to specify whether it will be a walk, nap, bake, knit, etc. By inputting these breaks into your calendar, they can serve as important reminders!

Reflection is crucial: Prioritize

“When things get overwhelming, and we have 10+ balls to juggle, we need to strategically drop a few of the balls or we risk losing all of them at once”

• 🤔 WHAT matters to me? 

  • Prioritize your base needs - adequate sleep, proper diet and moderate exercise.

  • ie. If I already don’t have time to do things, do I really have the time to get sick?

• 🤹 Do I NEED to be doing everything?

  • Constant busyness or distraction doesn’t necessarily mean we aren’t still experiencing difficult emotions beneath the surface.

  • ie. Do I have the energy to work an extra shift this weekend? What happens if I say ‘no’?

• ♻️ Are there tasks I can DROP?

  • Sometimes, doing a few things very well might be more worthwhile than taking on too many things at one time and barely getting by.

  • ie. What am I involved in, but not feeling a direction or a path forwards?

Acute management is next: Micro-Breaks

“Microbreaks is a form of brief psychological detachment from work tasks that puts high demands on our resources, and allows us to replenish our energy temporarily until we find time to rest”

3: Build Resilience through Individual Recovery and Systemic Changes

“Addressing burnout requires a multi-faceted approach. While personal time management skills can help individuals cope to some extent, the responsibility should not solely fall on individuals. It's crucial to push for systemic changes that prioritize mental health and well-being within the structures of society.”

Individual Recovery: Self-Care and Resources

• 💻️ The following are a few amazing resources you can read to build your knowledge on burnout!

• ☎️ The following are some crisis lines worth saving in your phone or as a screenshot, in case you or your loved ones need them for the future:

  • Mental health crisis - 1+ (866) 996-0991

  • Ottawa and the counties of Prescott Russell, Renfrew & Stormont Dundas and Glengarry - 1+ (613) 722-6914

  • Leeds and Grenville district - 1+ (866) 281-2911

  • Pembroke Regional Hospital Mobile Crisis Team -  1+ (613) 732-3675 ext. 8116 or 1+ (866) 996-0991

  • Youth Services Bureau 24/7 Crisis Line - 1+ (613) 260-2360 or 1+ (877) 377-7775

Systemic Changes: Notice and Report

• Have you noticed practices in the nursing program (academia, clinicals, labs, attitudes, stigmas) that are conducive to burnout?

• Reach out to lab coordinators, student associations (UNSA) or even our email at [email protected] and express your experiences and opinions!

• If you are noticing it, you are probably not the only one. Speaking out about unreasonable practices can help us bring evidence to the school of nursing and eventually foster a safer environment for everyone!

Resources Corner 🌳 

• Instagram accounts with quotes 📷️ 

  • @thegoodquote 

  • @selfcare.recipe

  • @twillostory

• Tiktoks for some light humour 🎶 

• Podcast highlight 🎤 

Positive Affirmations 💗