Five Tips for Dealing with Stress as an STNA
As a State Tested Nursing Assistant you’ll be working long hours and dealing with a lot of stressful situations. Factor in the reality that life itself is stressful on its own and you need a plan for dealing with it all.
Build Your Confidence in Your Abilities
You worked really hard to become an STNA and you learned a lot during that process. But that doesn’t mean that you automatically feel a lot of confidence in your abilities to be the best STNA possible. Those doubts can contribute to your stress levels. One way around that is to continually add to your skills and to remind yourself what you do really well. You’ve got this.
Get Yourself Organized
The more organized you are the easier it is for you to get your job done. You’ll also find that your personal life feels more manageable, too. When you know where you’re supposed to be and where the things you use all the time are, that lowers your frustration levels automatically.
Check Your Communication Skills
One big source of stress, both personally and professionally, can spring up when you don’t feel as if you’re communicating well. When the people in your life understand you and you understand what they require, there are far fewer misunderstandings. Assertive communication is a skill that you can learn and it can serve you well.
Double Check Your Lifestyle Choices
Are you eating well? Sleeping well? Those seemingly small lifestyle choices have some far-reaching effects that you might not notice right away. When you’re taking care of all of those little details, though, you’ll find that you have the energy that you need to deal with everything in your life from your work obligations to your personal obligations.
Find a Solid Stress-management Plan
You may also benefit from a dedicated stress-management plan. That could involve journaling regularly about how you’re feeling and coping or finding a friend you can talk to when things aren’t going so well. Other ways to deal with stress could involve meditating regularly or even addressing spiritual needs on a regular basis. It all helps.
When you know that your job is a stressful one you can prepare a little bit in order to ensure you’re on top of things. As an STNA, you’ll be a caregiver to a lot of people when they’re in the most stressful situation of their lives. Making sure you’re taking care of yourself ensures you’ll be able to help them to the best of your ability.
