Burnout Isn’t the Problem — Survival Mode Is

Burnout is not on anyone’s bucket list, yet 80% of nurses experience it at some point in their careers.

80%.

If 80% of your patients suffered from a painful condition, you would look for ways to treat it, or better yet, prevent it.

Last week we talked about burnout as a result of getting stuck in the stress cycle. One approach to breaking the cycle is signaling safety to the nervous system through restorative, intentional movement. Today we are going to start at the beginning of the cycle where the perception of stress starts. 

As a quick synopsis, the stress cycle is comprised of 3 parts

1. Perceive the stress

2. Do something focused and intense with your body to escape the stress (using cortisol and stress hormones)

3. Create a signal to the body that you are safe from danger.

Alert. Activate. Recover.

It may seem that perceiving stress is not something that we can do anything about if we are not going to change the jobs we are in. 

Nothing can be further from the truth. 

It isn’t hard but it is going to take effort. We can change the stress perception by framing our experiences differently. The situation doesn’t need to change for us to feel better and this is really good news. 

Let me explain. 

Typically when we experience something we see as a threat, a wrongdoing, an insurmountable obstacle, our sympathetic nervous system jumps into action: we move into fight, flight, or freeze. This is true even at work.

Fight: raging against the system, ruminating and repetitive unproductive venting to coworkers, being “triggered”

Flight: detaching, limiting engagement, “it’s not my problem”

Freeze: withdrawing into ourselves, becoming overwhelmed and shutting down

To be clear, this doesn’t mean we are bad people, it means our nervous system is working exactly as it should, trying to protect us from danger.

Unfortunately, being in this state does not foster growth, it limits us.

I don’t want to be limited.

So, what can we do about it? When we feel ourselves falling into this state, angry, anxious, or overwhelmed, we can decide to reframe the situation. Reframing is not denial. We are not pretending the stressor doesn’t exist... . This is virtually impossible because we can’t “trick” our nervous system.

What we can do is look at it from a different angle, an angle that also feels true but gives us back control and purpose instead of being a victim of our circumstances. 

Let’s look at some reframes and see how you feel about them.

Threat: I have so much to do and not enough resources (time, help, etc)

Reframe: I can always find a way to help people.

Threat: My patient is angry that I won’t increase their medication. (ie: they shouldn’t be acting like this)

Reframe: I can understand why they feel medication is their best option, they haven’t been trained in pain management. I also know that what I am doing is out of concern for them, that I am offering the best care possible. It’s ok if they are angry. I can still help them.

Threat: My coworker isn’t pulling their weight. 

Reframe: I want to do a good job regardless of what other people are doing. It’s who I am. When I find myself focusing on him and becoming unhappy, I will focus on the good work I do. 

These are just some examples. Admittedly, initially this might need to be practiced after the fact when you can sit and think in peace and quiet. But like any other skill, with repetition it can become automatic and keep you from jumping head first into the stress cycle in real time. 

What are some situations that you are reactive to at work? Can you take a moment to write it out like this? If you were to approach the threat from understanding and compassion for the other players OR shift the focus to yourself and your core values, what would that reframe look like?

We can learn to recover from the stress cycle after it happens, or we can learn to interrupt it before it takes over.

Both are skills worth practicing.

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I know what it feels like to carry the weight of healthcare home with you — to feel emotionally exhausted, reactive, detached, or like you’re constantly running on empty. That’s why I started offering 1:1 coaching for healthcare professionals who want more than just “getting through the day.”

Together, we work on understanding your stress patterns, quieting survival mode, and helping you reconnect with purpose, balance, and yourself again.

If this resonates with you, send me a message. I’d love to talk. Megan@NursingBeyondtheJob.com