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Five tips for cutting stress for the New Year

Case Management Weekly, December 18, 2007

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Case management is a stressful profession, and many case managers feel so pressured that they are in danger of burnout. But stress can be managed, and by focusing on ways to relieve your stress, you can improve your working life. Take a look at the following compilation of tips for conquering stress from the Stressed Out series of books and accompanying Web site aimed at nurses.

1. Improve your time management
   -Break your day down into units of time.
   -Find out where your time is going.
   -Get a daily planner.
2. Keep your cool
   Stressed Out columnist Heather Grondin, RN, admits that staying calm isn't always easy when conflicts heat up. Recalling a fiery exchange with a nurse's aide, she found a bathroom break was a good way of cooling her rising temperature. She also recommends that you approach potential conflict prepared.
3. Remember to breathe
   Cast your skepticism aside, says Stressed Out's relaxation expert Diana Lang, and "take deep, oxygen-filled breaths many times a day." Lang, a spiritual teacher and counselor and the owner of LifeWorks-Center for Growth in Los Angeles, claims that many healthcare professionals simply forget to breathe properly.
4. Improve relations
   Setting communication boundaries can cut conflict between healthcare professionals, helping to make your workplace a healthier place to be. In Stressed Out About Communication Skills, Joan Monchak Lorenz, MSN, APRN, BC, helps nurses and case managers use communication to defuse stressful situations. The first step is to set the communication ground rules:
   -No discussion concerning another person can take place if that person isn't present
   -All issues must pertain to a behavior that threatens the mission of the organization, including patient safety and professional values
   -If a person has an issue with another person, he or she must privately and directly discuss the issue with the other person
   -All personnel must enforce the policy; gossip and destructive social behaviors must be addressed by everyone in the environment
5. Exercise
   Exercise is a natural stress buster. Other benefits are less obvious. Exercise, even a light walk in a stolen half hour, often brings a change of scenery, taking your mind off present troubles and redirecting your focus onto the activity or new surroundings.

Source: You can read the entire article in the January issue of Case Management Monthly.

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