Stress Management in Nursing

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Number:

  8418490

  Career Cluster:

  Health Sciences

  CIP Number:

  0351390102

  Course Type:

  High School

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “The Stress Prescription.” See CPALMS resource ID# 221870.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson is designed to help students build career-ready skills and deepen their understanding of nursing by learning to recognize and differentiate symptoms of stress. Through critical thinking, students will apply this knowledge to develop strategies for reducing personal stress and preventing burnout, which are common challenges in the healthcare field.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Identify signs and symptoms of stress as well as sources of stress unique to the practice of nursing.
  • Identify healthy coping strategies to help reduce stress and burnout.
  • Write a narrative that provides the perspective of reducing feelings of stress and burnout when practicing as a nurse.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  1. Stress is a natural occurance in many careers.
  2. Recognize that it is important to monitor and control stress to avoid career burnout.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How do you provide care for patients and families without caring for yourself?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, begin by sharing the following statistic and asking the questions below. Teachers can use the citation included in the Teacher Notes, but this can be swapped out with more current data as it becomes available.
     • Upwards of 90% of nurses are reporting an increase in job stress and burnout and decrease in work satisfaction. This is almost 20% more of the nursing workforce, compared to other healthcare professions (Galanis, et. al, 2023).
  2. The teacher can ask students:
     • How does this statistic make them feel?
     • What could be some of the reasons for burnout and stress in nursing?
     • Did students know that there was such a high stress level in nursing prior to starting nursing classes?
  3. Provide students with a copy of the case study, “The Stress Prescription” (See CPALMS Resource ID# 221870). Let students know they can take notes, highlight specific symptoms and assessment findings, or underline important details. Pose the following questions as the case study is read:
     • What are some of the signs and symptoms Dakota is experiencing that are related to stress?
     • What do you think the potential sources are for this stress?
  4. The teacher may consider having students differentiate between physical and psychological and emotional symptoms. Students can discuss potential internal (e.g., perfectionism, self-doubt) and external (e.g., staffing, unit culture) factors that might have exacerbated his stress?
     • What signs and symptoms do you think are most concerning for Dakota?
     • How did the stress impact Dakota’s professional performance and patient care?
  5. Lead the students in a discussion about positive and negative coping strategies. Ask the students to reflect on their own personal strategies when they are stressed as well as what are their stressors. Students will reflect on their own available coping strategies and experiences with stress to develop an individualized plan when faced with stress in the workplace. Student will complete the “Stress Management Planner,” (see attachment) to develop this plan and use it for referencing.
  6. Finally, students will create a written narrative outcome for the case study in which they discuss ways that Dakota can approach and cope with the current situation and manage their stress.
     
     • Have students use their Stress Management Planner as a reference for ideas to help Dakota manage stress.
     • Ensure students write a narrative outcome that includes at least 2 additional paragraphs.
     • The narrative outcome should include the perspectives of at least 2 characters from the case study.
  7. Have students reflect on the following questions as they are finishing their free writing prompt:
     • Thinking back to the case study and your personal stress management plan, what is the single most important takeaway you will carry with you into your nursing practice?
     • What's one proactive step you can commit to taking this week (or within the next month) to begin implementing your personal stress management plan, even before you start your first nursing job?
     • How might understanding and managing your own stress impact the quality of care you provide to your patients?
     • What role do you see yourself playing in fostering a supportive and less stressful environment for your future nursing colleagues?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Citation for statistic:
    • Galanis, P., Moisoglou, I., Katsiroumpa, A., Vraka, I., Siskou, O., Konstantakopoulou, O., Meimeti, E., & Kaitelidou, D. (2023). Increased job burnout and reduced job satisfaction for nurses compared to other healthcare workers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing Reports (Pavia, Italy), 13(3), 1090–1100. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep13030095
  • These additional questions may be used to extend the conversation to discuss a plan to help reduce stress and burnout for Dakota:
    • What coping strategies would you suggest for Dakota to help reduce stress?
    • Consider expanding the conversation with student to review positive versus negative coping strategies such as exercise and deep breathing (positive) instead of yelling or drinking alcohol (negative).
    • How might Dakota's level of self-awareness influence his ability to cope with stress?
    • What role did the nurse's colleagues, charge nurse, or office manager play (or fail to play) in recognizing and addressing Dakota's stress?

• Optional

  
  

  To make this an interactive class activity, you can write each question on big post-it notes and place around the classroom (gallery walk). Have students circulate and write their own answers on the notes and then discuss as a group. This still allows for autonomy but there is immediate feedback with responses.