Nursing is a very stressful, hectic, and intense job; it is no wonder that a lot of new nurses get burned out easily. There are a lot of things that adds to the stressfulness of the hospital environment, particularly the nursing job, such as hospital protocol, staffing shortages, corporate rules, unpleasant co-workers, unreasonable superiors, competitiveness, clashing egos, insecurities, lack of sleep, and lack of confidence. For the new nurse in discount urbane scrubs, it can be impossible to handle the overwhelming pressures and stresses that come with the job and it is easy to feel miserable within a few months or a year’s time. Feeling disillusioned is a common reaction for the newbie where they start hating work and dread waking up everyday and going to the hospital. It is as if their only sustenance has become waiting for the paycheck. In no time, misery leads to depression and depression leads to fatigue and illness and the feeling that you need to quit to get your life back. This is what ‘burnout’ is.

One way to overcome burnout is to treat it like any other illness. And like any other illness, the first step to treating it is to recognize what it is and make an assessment and diagnosis. This means that the first step to cure burnout is to recognize that you have burnout. You need to have self-awareness. Some symptoms of burnout include feeling that every day is a bad day, feeling bored all the time, not caring about your work anymore and feel that it’s waste of time to think about it, feeling exhausted all the time, and spending your time on tasks that you find mind-numbingly dull or too overwhelming, and feeling that anything that you do will make no difference and will go unappreciated. Burnout from work also usually spills out into your personal life and home life. It can also lower your immune system and make you susceptible to flu, headaches, or a cold.

Once you have made a diagnosis of yourself and have confirmed that you are indeed experiencing burnout, it’s time to act on it to reverse its effects. To battle the symptoms, you have to work on your mental and physical state. You can feel and be more energetic by taking up a physical exercise, specifically cardio. You can try jogging to work or signing up for a Pilates, yoga, aerobics, or dancing class. All of these will help you breathe better, make your blood circulate better, and strengthen your immune system. Eating healthy will also contribute to a healthy body. And as you’ve learned, a healthy body affects a healthy mind.

Making changes in your routine is one way to break the dull and mundane cycle of your daily work. You can start with little changes such as eating in a different place or ordering other types of food that you don’t usually order. Try to be a bit more adventurous! Listening to music is also very therapeutic. You can listen to ambient music during your break times, or on your way home, or before going to bed. These are just some examples for battling burnout. Reading poetry, being inspired by art, finding beauty in humanity-all these are tools for making you love yourself and your work again.