Nurses are incredibly skilled at ignoring their own needs. We push through exhaustion, skip breaks, ignore full bladders, and silence our own discomfort so we can care for everyone else. Over time, self-ignoring becomes automatic—and burnout follows. Caring for yourself doesn’t mean caring less for others. You deserve rest, boundaries, and compassion too.

I realized there was one glaring omission in my regimen of reliability, doing what I say I am going to when the only person it affects is me