1. Don’t wait for trauma to cope with trauma! Presented by Sam Eddy

3. Innovation can mean flipping your approach
What we normally do is wait until trauma occurs or we experience stress symptoms to try and cope.
Todays talk is about flipping this on it’s head.

4. Nursing by nature is if full of fear and stress
People only come to see you if they have a problem!

5. Self-care in nursing
“Self-care is imperative to personal health, sustenance to continue to care for others, and professional growth.”
2014/Practicing-Self-Care-for-Nurses.html
Self-care plans across 4 domains:
Physical
Emotional / cognitive
Relational, and
Spiritual

6. 3 innovative steps to coping with trauma

7. Missing key ingredient?

8. 1
Unmasking the enemy
FEAR

11. Physical symptoms of stress & anxiety – we need to feel and know these to manage them
Heart racing
Palpitations
Sweating
Needing to go to toilet
Muscle tension/spasm
Blurred vision
Tension headaches
Lump in the throat
Shortness of breath
Sounds getting louder
Unreality
Numbness

12. Stages of fear Stressful thought or situation arises in the mind
This triggers the stress response & unpleasant physical symptoms
1st fear
Unannounced thoughts, combined with unpleasant symptoms trick us into rumination, worry and panic
2nd fear

13. Trauma, Crisis and Nursing
Many medical facilities still neglect the fact that crisis communication starts before the actual crisis takes place.
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A crisis is not the time to check in reference books on what to do. You therefore need to be able to act or respond deliberately.
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Much of the research is around crisis management and media training….it focuses on practicalities of trauma and crisis response.

14. Trauma, Crisis and Nursing
“Little attention has been directed to the persistence of certain long- standing hidden symptoms of trauma in some nurses.”
“The empathy and the desire to alleviate the pain and suffering of patients can dramatically enhance the connection between patient and nurse. Unfortunately, this connection can have a serious psychological impact on the nurse with long-term consequences if left untreated.”
Individual strategies to avoid stress and trauma can include: improved self- awareness, better management of work/life balance, better personal and social connections, the motivation to learn and grow professionally and emotionally, and use of reflective practices such as mindfulness and yoga.

15. Do we teach self-care to student Nurses?
‘No specific unit on self-care at University’

16. 2 The anchor - getting out of your own head
First of its kind national support service – for nurses by nurses!
Fosters a culture of openness and transparency
Embraces innovation and change, leading to better health outcomes for staff and clients
Encourage nurses and midwives to seek help sooner – before there is a ‘problem’
Promote professional and safe nursing and midwifery practice through:
providing highly accessible professional, confidential, compassionate and individualised support
addressing health issues from a nursing and midwifery perspective
providing support to employers, managers, students, educators and concerned others 2

17. What are you worried about? Learning to not sweat the ‘small stuff’.
My kids performance at school?
Bills to pay?
Tension at work?
Unwell parents?
Relationship problems?
Getting frustrated driving in traffic?
Easily annoyed at people pushing in front of you?
What does my boss really think of me?
Financial security?
State of politics?
What if?

18. It’s hard not being real (or always ‘on’)
Home Work Social

19. Creating space between yourself & stressful events
SAG, FLOAT through fear (5 min sagging practice)
Not fighting
Not running
Acceptance

20. Marathon Week 5, Sunday: 10 miles (medium everyday stress)
MARATHON (TRAUMA)

21. Non resistance method Change Channel Don’t fight Sag Shift Allow
Allow your experience and skills to take over
Shift
Shift into moment by moment awareness
Sag
Sag into the tension and gain clarity of thought
Don’t fight
Don’t fight it – use your understanding
Channel
Channel the adrenaline
Change
Change your default response
Non resistance method

22. True confidence Blame culture? Was it something I did?
Taking things personally?
Being hard on yourself?
Getting comfortable with life (and death)?
Stepping out of judgement

23. Benefits Eliminate Use Channel Familiar Eliminate panic
Use heightened awareness to your advantage
Use
Channel ‘fight or flight’ & avoid panic, rushing, tension and mental blanks
Channel
It is harder to fear what we know and understand
Familiar
Benefits

24. Comments & Questions?