Thrive RN

Let’s address the healthcare-shaped elephant in the room. According to SAMHSA, (2021) 35% of RNs and 34% of LPNS report burnout! Have you ever felt this way? For example, you come home feeling depleted of all energy, defeated because you felt were like you didn’t do enough for your patients, and inadequate because your manager counseled you on the overtime you spent past your shift catching up on charting. You’re certainly not alone. And it doesn’t have to be this way.

This was me. I’ve been there. It is a murky and lonely place to be.I felt anxious about going into work, withdrawn from my friends and family, and was suffering from migraines.

Had I known the signs of a toxic work environment, I might’ve been able to recognize the shame I carried was not my fault. This healthcare system is broken. It needs to change to better support nurses; to enact that, one person at a time needs to stand up. We create our community. We have hope.

Here are some red flags for a toxic workplace I wish I had known:
◦ No boundaries between work and home, especially after/before working hours.◦ There is no trust between upper leadership and other staff ◦ The culture is tense and unpleasant ◦ Supervisory Issues Abound. ... there is little to no support for employees ◦ Staff are piled with Responsibilities but have little autonomy ✓ The workplace structure encourages Bad Behavior among a hierarchical system

So what do you do? Where do we start? Why focus on mental health?

“When you are traumatized, abused, neglected, you start developing heartache and gut wrench as it gets expressed somewhere in the midline of your body. That’s where trauma is experienced.”
-Bessel van der Kolk, PhD

It hurts in my heart and it’s painful and uncomfortable to relive these memories but it’s important to share because it’s a part of my story. I’ve come out so much stronger on the other side with the support of my friends and family.

I don’t share any of this lightly so that you’ll feel sorry for me or take pity on me. I speak out because it’s important to tell your story. I didn’t want to endure a toxic workplace. Being called a hero for working with COVID-19 outbreaks without propped resources is insufficient! I didn’t want to fight harassment against my disability in a toxic workplace either , but still I forge a path forward.

You’re not a diagnosis, not just a nurse, not just a number, not the things your depression or anxiety screams at you; you are not your past; you’re not the lies that the world tells you that you are. You get to decide. You are you in this present moment.

For the longest time, I hung a post-it on my mirror that read, “I am a good person.” “I don’t know if I believe it,” whispers the doubt, the voices of my accusers, the shame of having to bear this. I’m taking time to heal.

In these moments I feel faint, I fight back. I have justice. I am joy. I am peace. I am love. I have community. I am advocating and I thrive.

We are joy, peace, and love. We are in union in Community and together we thrive.