Healthy workplace, healthy you
Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
3
Introduction
Welcome to the useful short guide to coping with pressure and stress.
Whatever your role and however long your experience, we all face times
when we struggle with the pressures upon us. In this guide we’ll help you
understand the nature of pressures and stress and how we can start to
build our resilience.
Does pressure help or hinder?
Pressure is part of our everyday lives. It can be useful to drive our
performance and keep us working at our best. We usually have a sense of
having achieved ‘a good day’s work’ and feel good about ourselves when
we have worked successfully under pressure. We can feel excited and
exhilarated about the challenges the day has brought and perhaps the
learning or experience we have gained during the day.
However, if we have a short episode of very intense pressure, or a longer
period of excessive pressure, our defences or resilience can be overcome
and we find ourselves feeling stressed. This can come with an array of
feelings, psychological and physical symptoms. Often we feel exhausted
and have uneasiness or raised alertness.
Definitions of stress
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describes stress as:
“The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types
of demands placed upon them. It arises when they perceive that they are
unable to cope with those demands.”
(Health and Safety Executive, 2008)
This is useful as it makes reference to the important aspect of stress
happening when there is a perception of not being able to cope. This can
help us understand why the same pressures can affect people differently.
There are a number of reasons for this, but one is about that point in time
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Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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when we decide we can’t cope anymore. Therefore, if we can change the
way we interpret or think about events or our body’s reaction to events, we
can start to have more control over stress in our lives. Studies show that
people who learned to reframe stress felt less stress and had a different
physiological response.
Try revisiting how you interpret the ‘butterflies in your tummy’ type
symptoms and reframe them as your body preparing to meet a challenge,
rather than your system breaking down.
The HSE also describe stress as a balancing act:
“Stress arises when the demands upon us outweigh the resources we have
to deal with those demands”.
This indicates that we are in an unsustainable situation and therefore
something needs to change to rectify the situation.
These two definitions are both useful in helping our understanding.
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demands
support and
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supportive
partner
good team
working
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Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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So, where are you on the pressure scale?
Look at the performance curve below. Note how our performance
increases with pressure, up to the tipping point, when pressure becomes
stress. After this point we become less effective. If the stress is unrelieved
we can become unwell. Draw a line where you feel your performance level
is currently at. Then draw in a line where you would like to be.
Is there a difference?
If there is, it’s time to take action.
If you are under-challenged
, indicated as ‘rust out’ in the graph, this can
be very unsatisfying. Consider what additional responsibilities or role
you could undertake and make plans about how to move this forward.
Discussing your thoughts with your manager is likely to be helpful.
If your performance is reduced due to stress
there are some useful
information, hints and tips to help you overleaf.
Pressure/performance graph
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
P
erf
ormanc
e
Pressure
Relaxed
Energised
Struggling
Shattered
Tired
Sleepy
RUST OUT
BURN OUT
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Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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Stress
Stress is experienced as a result of different things for each of us. The
things which trigger you to feel stressed, may not affect your colleagues
in the same way. So it’s important not to assume people know how you are
feeling. Try to let your manager know if you are struggling at work. Your
employer will be aware of the risk of stress-related ill health caused by
work and carries a responsibility for you health and safety at work, which
includes your emotional/mental health as well as your physical wellbeing.
Employers should take measures to reduce the risk of work-related stress.
Stress may show itself in very different ways. Below are some of the
symptoms you may have experienced.
Low libido
Accident prone
Loss of appetite
Drinking more
Smoking more
Eating more
Insomnia
Headaches
Frequent infections
Muscle aches/twitches
Breathlessness
Skin irritations
Fatigue
Worrying
Muddled thinking
Impaired judgement
Nightmares
Indecisions
Hasty decisions
Negativity
More fussy
Loss of confidence
Irritability
Depression
Apathy
Alienation
Stress
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Improving your mental
wellbeing
As we find different things stressful, we also find different things help us to
improve our mental wellbeing and resilience.
Below is a list for you to consider. Activities you may find useful include:
Lifestyle management
•
Maintain a balance between work and play – do you live to work or work
to live?
•
Use leisure time to recharge your batteries, exercise regularly, socialise
in person.
•
Maintain a healthy diet, be mindful as some stimulants such as alcohol,
caffeine and nicotine can exacerbate stress responses.
•
Plan regular holidays and take them at home if finances are tight.
•
Build and maintain your support networks.
Become your own expert
•
Take time out to reflect and to be as objective as you can.
•
Identify you main sources of stress – try anticipating stressful periods
and plan accordingly.
•
Assess how effective your current coping strategies are – are there any
different strategies that can be applied, discussing them with people you
trust can be helpful.
•
Ask ‘What is in and what is out of my control?’ ‘Am I able to influence?‘,
and if you cannot influence ask ‘How can I accept?’
•
Make use of online resources such as the NHS Choices website –
www.nhs.uk
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Managing your personal work environment
•
Take time to regularly review and plan – learn to improve time
management skills.
•
Plan regular breaks. Thirty minutes not working increases your
effectiveness later on.
•
Negotiate and if possible delegate, use ‘let me get back to you, ‘no’, ‘not
now’ especially when you sense that others are offloading their work
onto you.
•
Learn to recognise your needs and be assertive in stating them – do not
feel pressured into overtime that you know you cannot do or do not want
to do.
•
If you feel underworked then consider additional responsibilities,
support your colleagues or seek out new challenges to keep you
stimulated.
•
If the adjustments you are making are not working then make use
of one-to-ones, appraisals and clinical supervision to address your
current situation.
•
Career advice may be useful if you are stressed and frustrated with
your career development, career guidance can help you gain greater
awareness of your career values, interest and needs.
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Consider you thinking skills
•
When stressed be mindful of ‘unhelpful thinking habits’ for example,
‘I must be perfect, I must never make a mistake’ – find ways of
thinking more realistically ‘I am doing the best that I can in difficult
circumstances’.
•
Avoid mind reading, jumping to conclusions, black and white thinking,
catastrophising, likewise avoid generalisation, for example, ‘this always
happens to me’, ask yourself ‘where’s the evidence, what are the facts?’
•
Challenge pressure you put on yourself by turning musts, oughts and
shoulds into likes and preferences from ‘I must complete this task
today’ to ‘I’d like to complete today and I will do what I can’.
•
Learn to identify what you can and can’t control and acknowledge what
can’t be avoided. Why waste energy banging your head against a brick
wall that is not going to give way? Much better to invest the energy into
finding a way under or around the wall!
Managing your personal perceptions of stress
•
Use constructive self-talk and avoid putting yourself down –
acknowledge your achievements and regularly give yourself a pat on
the back.
•
Maintain a sense of proportion and remember that you have managed
to get through difficulties before.
•
Think about what helped you through a previous difficulty – how did
you do that? It may give you some clues and instil hope that there is a
way forward.
•
Remember too that you are not superhuman!
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Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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Other helpful measures
Breathing techniques
These can be done anywhere and at any time.
Try breathing in for a count of 7, then paying
attention to the surface(s) supporting you,
breathe out for a count of 11. Within 3-4
breaths the adrenaline response associated
with stress related symptoms will calm
and enable you to focus on your priorities
or the task you are undertaking.
Relaxation scripts
Some people find these useful and there
are various types available on DVD or
YouTube.
Use your networks
When going through a difficult time, support
networks are useful. Consider talking to
your occupational health department and/
or employee assistance scheme if you have
one. Your GP/practice nurse, or the RCN
counselling service may also be helpful.
If your stress is caused or made worse by work
then talk to you can talk to your RCN workplace
representative or RCN Direct for advice (contact
details on page 12).
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Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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Top tips
Aim for the healthy tension between being relaxed and energised.
Regularly assess your stress response and the current stresses as
stress can creep up unawares.
Plan ahead for expected increases in stress.
Find out what works best for you in terms of reducing and managing
your stress.
Try out new ideas that may work well for you.
Remember, feeling stressed does not equal not coping.
It is OK to seek help when stressed.
Remember that your employer carries a responsibility for your health
and safety at work, which includes your emotional/mental health as
well as your physical wellbeing.
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Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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Further information and
support
NHS Choices
www.NHS.uk
MIND
www.mind.org.uk
International Stress Management Association
www.isma.org.uk
Samaritans
www.samaritans.org
RCN Direct
On line advice at
www.rcn.org.uk/direct
Telephone 0345 772 6100
RCN Membership Support Services
Contact the counselling service on 0345 408 4391 seven days a week
8.30am-8.30pm to make an appointment or email
mss@rcn.org.uk
For more information visit
www.rcn.org.uk/mss
If you want to find out more about coping with pressure and stress
read our longer guide Stress and you (RCN 2015) which can be accessed at
www.rcn.org.uk/publications
and search for publication code 004967
Healthy workplace, healthy you
Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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References
Health and Safety Executive (2008) Working together to reduce stress at work
– a guide for employees, Sudbury: HSE available at
www.hse.gov.uk/stress
(accessed 25 June 2015)
Royal College of Nursing (2015) Stress and you available from
www.rcn.org.uk/publications
and search for publication code 004967
Healthy workplace, healthy you
Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
14
Notes
Healthy workplace, healthy you
Stress and you: a short guide to coping with pressure and stress
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The RCN represents nurses and
nursing, promotes excellence in
practice and shapes health policies
September 2015
RCN Online
www.rcn.org.uk
RCN Direct
www.rcn.org.uk/direct
0345 772 6100
Published by the
Royal College of Nursing
20 Cavendish Square
London
W1G 0RN
020 7409 3333
www.facebook.com/
royalcollegeofnursing
www.twitter.com/thercn
www.youtube.com/rcnonline
Publication code: 004 966
To find out more about the RCN’s healthy workplace
campaign, visit www.rcn.org.uk/healthyworkplace
Document Outline - Introduction
- Stress
- Improving your mental wellbeing
- Top tips
- Further information and support
- References
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