As a nurse, you may encounter a multitude of stressors and challenges each day. From long hours, high pressure, and rotating shifts, nursing can be an extremely demanding profession. According to the American Nurses Association, the effects of stress and overwork are nurses’ top health and safety concern. How can you overcome this? The answer is simple: focusing on the positive. Building positive emotions can change the way you approach and view your environment, helping us to become healthier, happier, and more productive throughout the day! Below are a few ways you can start being a more positive thinker:

Choose to be positive. 

Monitor your responses to others, and seek to use more positive words and phrases in conversation. Be conscious of your thoughts- and try to look for the bright side in any situation.

Smile more. 

Although it may seem difficult, try smiling whenever you feel stressed during a shift. The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your overall health. Smiling also helps to relax the facial muscles and calm down the nervous system.

Meditate. 

Take a few minutes to meditate each day. Meditation helps to reduce stress, improve concentration, and encourages a healthy lifestyle.

Random acts of kindness. 

Try doing random acts of kindness and encourage others to do the same. Acts of kindness can improve your mental health and help to reduce stress levels.

Social connections. 

Social connections are shown to have a strong correlation with one’s overall happiness. Not only is it essential to increase your relationships, but you also want to make sure each connection is one of high-quality. To improve your connections with patients, try asking them if there is anything they would like to share about themselves.

Recent research shows that accumulating positive emotions enables us to overcome the harmful effects of negativity. By focusing on the positive, you will become a better, more able version of yourself! Being positive helps us see the good in the most challenging of times, and provides opportunities to create high-quality connections with others. Positivity is power!