Not So Serious Self Care: How Nurses Can Use Humor To Prevent Burnout

Why do nurses burn out? What happens to transform that bright-eyed, eager new nurse into someone who’s counting the minutes until the shift is done, counting the days until the next day off, counting the weeks until vacation and the months until retirement?

We hear some of the reasons all of the time: demanding patients, tyrant-doctors who rage at every question, family members who grope and glare and get entirely too close, dwindling resources, supply shortages and more — but we’re missing part of the picture. There are additional pressures that nurses are under each and every day that impact how we do our jobs. (more…)