4 Easy Mindfulness Practices Nurses Can Do on Shift

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No matter what setting you work in as a nurse, it’s easy to get caught up in the flurry of your shift and allow all mindfulness practices to fall to the wayside while your focus is on patient care. You can’t wait for the shift to end, so that you can go home and decompress with some of your go-to mindfulness practices. Why wait until you’re done with your shift to implement mindfulness practices?

Mindfulness for nurses is not stressed enough in the workplace, so the purpose of this blog post is to bring mindfulness into the workplace for improved nurse stress management. This blog post will outline 5 different mindfulness practices that a nurse can practice while still on shift. Practices such as breathing practices, body scan meditation, discovering mindfulness moments throughout the shift, practicing gratitude, and visualization practices are just a few.

Mindful Breathing Practices:

As a nurse, there are likely many moments of your day when you’re so stressed or anxious that you likely aren’t taking effective breaths and don’t even notice it. Mindful breathing is a meditative technique that brings attention to the process of breathing. A practice that doesn’t require any preparation or a specific environment, any calm moment will do. Most mindfulness breathing practices can be completed in under a minute. Making them perfect for nurse stress management while on shift.

Below, are a few examples of easy mindful breathing practices that can be easily performed while on shift:

• Box Breathing: (My personal favorite) Box breathing can be used when feeling especially anxious or stressed out, to help the mind disconnect from those thoughts and focus on the physical body.
  • Breath in slowly for a count of 4 through your nose
  • Hold that breath in for a count of 4
  • Exhale slowly through your mouth for another count of 4
  • Hold that exhaled breath for a final count of 4
  • Repeat the cycle of box breathing for another few rounds

• Pursed Lip Breathing: Used to help slow down your breaths and increase the amount of oxygen that is making it into your lungs by keeping your airways open longer. Begin by taking a slow deep breath in through your nose for a count of two. Keep your mouth closed for the duration of your breath in. “Purse” or pucker your lips, as if you were about to whistle, and breathe out for a count of four through pursed lips.

• Diaphragmatic Breathing: Place your hand on your belly (You can do this one standing or sitting), and take a slow, deep breath in. Focusing on expanding your belly and focusing on pushing your hand out with your belly. Trying not to let your chest expand, but instead focusing on your belly pushing out with each inhalation, Then, pushing on your belly with your hand on each breath out.

You don’t need to be laying down or in a quiet peaceful environment to effectively perform mindful breathing practices. These are especially helpful mindfulness practices in those moments of high stress situations that nurses often find themselves facing.

Body Scan Meditation

Another one of my personal favorites is the body scan. I utilize this mindfulness practice at night often, when I’m finding it difficult to wind down and settle into bed for the night for some sleep. You can use a body scan for relaxation and grounding in high stress moments at work just as effectively as you might while lying in your bed at night. This mindfulness practice for nurse can be performed while in a sitting position, and only requires a minimum of 2-3 minutes of your time.

Let’s talk about how to perform a Body Scan meditation while on shift as a nurse:

• Find a comfortable place where you can sit or even lie down for a few minutes
• Close your eyes and take a few deep, productive breaths
• Start at the top of your head, or down at your toes. (Your choice on where you start, it’s up to your preference)
• Move your conscious awareness from your starting point, toward the opposite end of your body (i.e from toes to top of the head or vice versa)
• Taking about 20-30 seconds to complete one scan
• While scanning, taking notice of any sensations, discomfort, or feelings that may come up
• If you come across an area of tension, make the conscious effort to focus on that area and breathe positive energy into that area
• Imagine the tension flowing out of your body and being replaced with calm comfort
• If your mind begins to wander, gently bring your focus back to your body and continue to scan for as long as you feel you need

On shift, taking the time for a body scan when stress levels are high can help you disconnect from those external stressors for a moment and reconnect with your own being and take inventory.

Mindfulness Moments

Finding mindfulness moments during a 12 hour shift can sound challenging, but sometimes it can be as simple as a positive thought or reframing of a difficult or stressful situation. It can be a thought as simple as remembering that “You GET to do this job, not that you have to do it. You have a skill set that not many other people have, and are able to use these skills to make a significant impact on the lives of many.”

Mindful moments can be taking a moment just to think about 5 positive things that you have going on in your life. Such as family, career, your home, your health, or your even your pets. Thinking of things that keep you grounded bad bring you peace when you are off the clock make great focuses for mindfulness moments. You could even take this a step further and write these things down in a gratitude journal.

Gratitude Practices

Gratitude practices aren’t just about thinking about the things in your life that you are thankful for. Though, you can’t go wrong taking a few minutes to think about 5 things in your life that you are grateful for.

Gratitude practices are also the verbalization of your gratitude or expressing appreciation. Such as making it a point of telling someone that you appreciate something that they are doing in your work place. You can show gratitude toward the person who is working in the cafeteria, for ensuring that there is good food available for you and your co workers. Or gratitude toward the environmental services/housekeeping for keeping patient rooms and your work spaces clean and in order.

The list goes on, but a little gratitude can go a long way. For both parties involves in the interaction. You might make the day of the person who you’ve voiced gratitude toward, and in return you may feel a small bit of warmth for the positivity that you just put out there in your interaction.

Conclusion

Mindfulness practices don’t need to be performed in the most ideal environments to be effective. Mindfulness for nurses should be a practice that we always hold in our back pockets, available to utilize when ever the moment strikes while at work. Rather than thinking you need to endure constant stress and pressure for 12 hours staring, until you can get home and slide into your nice, warm bathtub and begin your nightly meditation routine.

While at work, a nurse can perform a variety of mindfulness practices such as mindful breathing, a simple body scan, indulging in mindful moments, or taking part in gratitude practices. These practices can help a nurse ease anxiety, decrease stress levels, recenter themselves, and even give small dopamine boosts to reenergize the brain. Goodness knowns nurses need all the support they can get during their shift, not just while off the clock.

“Which of these mindfulness practices will you try during your next shift? Let me know in the comments below!