This is the fourth article in a series of blog posts centered around Nursing Wellbeing. Before you continue reading, be sure to click here to read about 'The Importance of Nursing Wellbeing'.
Societal wellbeing is the ability to build and maintain healthy relationships with those around you and possess a sense of belonging in a wider social environment. As a nurse, it’s important to feel valued in the workplace and work collaboratively with your colleagues in a positive way.
Remaining aware of your social well-being and actively actioning upon it will have a positive impact on your overall wellbeing. Just like your physical health, social connections must constantly be worked upon and it’s why we at Nutrix Personnel have made it our mission to help our nurses look after their social wellbeing through a few simple methods.
Making connections with colleagues
The easiest way to improve your social wellbeing is by forming new connections or by working upon existing ones. At Nutrix, we understand that working on a new ward can be difficult, but we heavily encourage our nurses to get to know their colleagues and make a deliberate effort to start conversations. Nursing hours are notoriously long and can often become lonely, especially during night shifts when hospital wards are quieter.
In the past, there’s been a common misconception that agency nurses have been unwelcomed on NHS hospital wards. The number of shortages throughout the public healthcare system, however, has resulted in agency nurses being warmly embraced rather than overlooked and unwelcomed. It’s often you’ll discover another nurse to also be working for an agency rather than as a permanent employee and agency work is certainly no longer a ‘taboo’ subject.
By forming new relationships with colleagues or building upon existing ones you’ll positively benefit your heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormones. Daily conversations will also help to relieve the stress you may be facing during work and improve your societal wellbeing.
Prioritising time with your closest connections
One of the biggest benefits of working with Nutrix Personnel is the flexibility you’ll receive. All of our nurses are in complete control over the shifts they work meaning they can work around relatives and friends, rather than vice-versa. Nothing affects your social well-being more than the close relationships you possess and prioritising them is a vital component of actioning upon your societal wellbeing.
All relationships require boundaries and expectations. Acknowledging how much time you spend with loved ones can be just as important as the time you’re together. By having control over the shifts, you work, relationships can once again be prioritised instead of being disregarded. Utilise your free time to organise regular catchups with your friends or perhaps have a sit-down dinner with your family?
Feeling as if you’re having a meaningful impact on the lives of loved ones improves our overall wellbeing. By just initiating small talk with a stranger, you can provoke a deeper, more meaningful relationship that will provide you with support, enjoyment, encouragement, and meaningfulness.
Helping others to better their wellbeing
Providing care to patients as a nurse is extremely rewarding and it’s no different when we give to others such as friends and family. Helping others activates an area of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust. Therefore, performing altruistic acts releases endorphins in the brains and boosts our overall happiness. Selfless behaviour also improves our mood and reduces stress so what’s not to like!
Simple ways to help others at work include things such as showing appreciation in front of others, be there to support colleagues when they’re struggling and most importantly, be patient. Some people need longer than others to process new information so it’s key to show patience and listen carefully to patient’s needs and wants.
Away from the wards, nurses can easily utilise their caring attributes to help family members at home or offer to volunteer in the local community. From a wellbeing perspective, this could be as simple as sharing tips on healthy living and offering emotional support to those in need. Regardless of the specific activity, using their caring attributes outside of the hospital setting can help nurses to feel a sense of fulfilment and purpose, and can also help to strengthen their relationships with family and the community.
We continue to help you help others
At Nutrix Personnel, the wellbeing of our nurses is of utmost importance. We recognise not only the quality of care you provide to nurses but also your own personal health and it’s why we’re committed to supporting our nurses’ societal wellbeing.
Whether you’re making new connections with colleagues, prioritising time with family members or helping others to better themselves, we want to offer you the very best support and resources to aid your wellbeing journey. If you’re struggling to understand your societal wellbeing or simply want someone to talk to, get in touch with a member of the Nutrix team.
