...12 stress management tips for mental health social workers by Simeon Brody on 27 February , 2012 in mental health Mark-Drinkwater-029.jpgby Mark Drinkwater, a mental health social worker and Community Care practice adviser 1. Identify the cause of your stress The first step is to identify the cause of your stress. Take a few deep breaths and try to think about what is making you feel that way. Only then will you be in a position to tackle the causes and see what you might be able to change. 2. Take control of your stress Stress won’t go away on its own. A feeling of a loss of control will exacerbate you stress. If you feel you have too little control over your work, insist on having a supervision session with your line manager where you can address this together. 3. Focus on the positives Negative thinking contributes to stress. Reflect on the positives in your life and get in the habit of celebrating your successes. Remember the Louis Armstrong song: When you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you. 4. Connect with people It’s good to talk and connecting with others can help us relax. Actively seek out the support of your colleagues. Likewise, having the support of family and friends can help you through difficult situations at work. 5. Manage your time Managing your time allows you to prioritise your workload effectively. Resist the urge to take work home with you and accept that you will always have to leave some...
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...The Stress Management Program for Best Buy INTRODUCTION The anxious feelings, sweaty palms, wondering how you will get everything done on time, wondering when you will see your family in between the long work hours, dealing with a micro-managing supervisor or unproductive co-workers that push their work on to you, or even the peer that says they enjoy deadlines! These are all depictions of what we call “stress”. While a certain amount of stress is needed to motivate individuals into action, called eustress, when an individual experiences anxiety and physical tension as demands are placed on them which exceed their abilities to cope, distress occurs (McShane & Von Glinow, 2008). Stress in the workplace is becoming a major concern for employees, employers, managers and government agencies. Workplace stress can be defined as the change in one’s physical or mental state in response to workplaces that pose an appraised challenge or threat to that employee (Colligan & Higgins, 2005). Stress research pioneer, Hans Selye, determined that people have a fairly consistent physiological response to stressful situations, called the general adaptation syndrome, providing an automatic defense system to help us cope with environmental demands (McShane & Von Glinow, 2008). More specifically, the three stages of the general adaptation syndrome: alarm (alerts the person to the situation and prepares for the resistance stage), resistance (shut down of the body’s immune system...
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...fatigue lacks clarity. In this article, the author begins by describing compassion fatigue and distinguishing compassion fatigue from burnout. Next she discusses risk factors for, and the assessment of compassion fatigue. The need to support nurses who witness tragedy and workplace interventions to confront compassion fatigue are described. Citation: Boyle, D., (Jan 31, 2011) "Countering Compassion Fatigue: A Requisite Nursing Agenda" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 16, No. 1, Manuscript 2. DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No01Man02 Key words: Compassion fatigue, nurse stress, work setting improvements, communication skills Nurses care for ill, wounded, traumatized, and vulnerable patients in their charge. This exposes them to considerable pain, trauma, and suffering on a routine basis (Coetzee & Klopper, 2010; Hooper, Craig, Janvrin, Wetzel, & Reimels, 2010). While many nurses perceive their work as a calling, few anticipate the emotional implications and sequelae that come from their close interpersonal relationships with patients and families (Aycock & Boyle, 2009; Walton & Alvarez, 2010). Compassion, or the feeling of emotion which ensues when a person is moved by the distress or suffering of another, is foundational to...
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...------------------------------------------------- University of Phoenix Material Stress Management Plan Post at least one idea for managing stress to the “Stress Management Best Practices” thread in the Main forum. Paste what you shared on that thread here: Use the best practices shared by your classmates on the “Stress Management Best Practices” thread in the Main forum and from the text to create a stress management plan (by answering the below questions) that you can implement immediately. Refer to Ch. 16 of Your College Experience to identify at least three areas of stress in your life. List those three areas of stress below, writing your responses in complete sentences: * Source of Stress #1: First term in college * Source of Stress #2: Change in social activities * Source of Stress #3: Marriage Answer the following questions in 50-100 words each: 1. What are some stress management best practices or techniques you can use for Stressor #1? The stress management techniques I can use for my first term in college is to take better control of the situation. I will use the Swiss Cheese Approach. Some times when I’m at home, I find myself doing nothing or having some free time. Like now, I have free time so I have taken the initiative to start on the following weeks work. Another technique I will use is setting priorities. By setting priorities I can ensure that things will get done and I won’t find myself in a bind. When...
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...Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina. The presentations were prepared for The Social Determinants of Health Across the Life-Span Conference, held in Toronto in November 2002. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Health Canada. Current Situation Over the 1980s and 1990s, there has been an ongoing restructuring of the labour market and of employment relationships. The intent of these changes has been to promote productivity and competitiveness, as opposed to promoting a worker-centred agenda of “good jobs” (Lowe, 2000). In Canada, only two-thirds of the employed workforce are in “standard” salaried jobs with no defined end date (mostly provided by large firms and the public sector). In this shrinking core job market, workers who have survived layoffs, privatization and contracting-out are generally working longer and harder. Employers have tried to increase profitability and competitiveness and to contain budgets by boosting productivity. This has been accomplished largely by increasing workloads. For example, in the health sector, fewer nurses, social workers and other health professionals must now deal with more clients and perform more duties. Investments in new labour-saving equipment, new information-based technologies, and experimentation with new forms of work organization have also boosted productivity. Some workplaces have become less hierarchical and alienating...
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...Stress Management for Sales People by Introduction Type A individuals are self-critical and competitive. As such, they focus on achieving goals without having any sense of joy for their accomplishments or efforts. Further, they have life imbalance, which originates from the high work involvement. Frank Taylor's automobile sales people are suffering from the Type A personalities, which makes them experience an element of stress in their life. Table 1: guiding principle for the program Assessment of the stress | 1. Use the figures to understand the scope of stress, which is revealed by evaluating illness, absenteeism, performance and turnover rates. 2. Forming a stress management team, which assists in identifying the stressors 3. Surveying employees to identifying stressors at work and off work. 4. Offering a health risk assessment for the lifestyle factors and diseases contributing to stress. | Maximum participation | All employees should be involved. Ongoing communication has to be distributed | Approach | Enlist organizations in the community, which will assist in the program. For example, mental health centers will facilitate in conducting seminars on stress and the strategies for coping. Local group (YMCA) will offer assistance on on-site instructionsEncourage all employees to participate in the formulated exercises Employee support group, which will comprise of the human resources facilitator, will be established. Such will ensure that the discussion...
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...continual reports of violence from around the world can frighten young people. Social media rarely allows teens to take a break from their peers. And in many middle class and upper class communities, today’s most potent ingredient is the achievement pressure. This pressure to excel across academic subjects and a wide range of extracurriculars, culminating in the stress of putting together an impeccable resume for the future. Underlying each of these factors is the stark reality that many young people have too few opportunities to practice and build resilience and turn towards methods...
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...Intervention Report for (Child Neglect) Risk and protective factors for trauma survivors * Risk factors (Child Welfare Information Gateway) * Individual: life stress, acute mental and physical health crises, school problems, family relationship problems, isolation, induced stress, anxiety, fear * Microsystemic: abusive parents, parents with mental or physical health problems, family conflict, bullies, single parent, inappropriate caregivers, antisocial peer groups, domestic violence, parental substance abuse, shuttling from home to foster care, lack of money, power issues in house hold * Mesosystemic: Lack of communication between family and school, parent isn’t involved in child education, lack of friends, lack of supervision from parents and community members, lack of religious community * Exosystemic: Medical neglect, less social contact and support, lack of societal/professional knowledge around neglect, low-income neighborhoods, dangerous neighborhoods, lack of resources, lack of childcare, lack of transportation * Macrosystemic: lack of requirement to register sex offenders, lack of social norms around neglect, fear of reporting abuse * https://www.childwelfare.gov/can/factors/protective_factors.cfm * Protective factors * Individual: low stress, coping strategies, positive self-image, sense of purpose, academic skills, involvement in activities, problem solving skills. * Microsystemic: strong parent-child...
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...STRESS MANAGEMENT CHAPTER OBJECTIVES: TO UNDERSTAND • The role of Stress in Employee Health • Extreme forms of Stress Reactions • Causes and symptoms of Stress • Organizational Effects of Stress • Actions that may Prevent or Reduce Stress • Different Counseling Functions • Three types of Counseling and Their Usefulness Coping with Stress People have many sources of stress: school, jobs, relationships, money (the lack of it), etc. Perhaps there is no more important topic than how one can handle or cope with stress. This module hopes to offer some practical advice on how to understand and manage one's stress. Some important questions to ask yourself prior to starting this unit are: • What are the main stresses in my life right now? • Are these stresses caused by people or things? • How have you attempted to manage these stresses? By avoiding them? By confronting them? • Using substances? • Have you ever given any thought to developing several, positive methods for stress management that could be effectively and safely used when the need arises? What is Stress? Stress is commonplace in the lives of college students. Learning to deal with stress means learning to understand what stress is, identifying common sources, and then practicing some method of stress reduction on a regular basis. Everyone has some method(s) for dealing with stress. Sometimes the methods we use for dealing with stress are productive: meditation, exercise, and listening...
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...organization and leadership at all levels, development of nurse practice environment, stress reduction interventions, lifestyle, emotional intelligence and self-awareness and problem focused and emotion focused coping strategies (Ndawula, 2016). Nursing management, organization, and leadership at all levels Good leadership and management have been shown to alleviate stress in the health care system (Wright, 2014). Nursing managers and organizations have the responsibility for reviewing the high requirements for nurses and providing resources...
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...Stress at Work A report prepared for The Work Foundation’s Principal Partners Ricardo Blaug Amy Kenyon Rohit Lekhi Contents Executive Summary Introduction 1. What is stress? 1.1 Defining stress 1. Explaining stress 1.3 Stress and ill-health 2. An epidemic of stress? .1 The extent of stress . The costs of stress .3 The victims of stress .4 The causes of stress 3. Why now? 3.1 Stress, work and contemporary life 3. Stress and happiness 3.3 Stress and social status 4. The sceptics 4.1 Problems of method and measurement 4. Putting stress in perspective 4.3 Therapy culture? 5. Legal and policy contexts 5.1 Stress and the law 5. Stress and public policy 6. Interventions 6.1 What does the evidence say? 6. Focussing on prevention Conclusion Bibliography 4 12 14 14 17 19 25 5 6 8 31 35 35 38 43 47 47 5 58 62 6 68 71 71 79 88 89 Stress at Work List of Tables, Figures and Boxes Table 1: Effects of stress on bodily functions Figure 1: Model of work-related stress Figure : The impact of workplace demands on physiological and psychological performance Figure 3: How stressful is your work environment? Figure 4: Overwork concern in organisations Figure 5: Self-reported Illness accentuated by work Figure 6: Estimated days lost due to self-reported work-related injury or illness Figure 7: Work-related mental ill-health Figure 8: Percentage of organisations where workers identify stress to be the leading hazard of concern by sector Figure 9: Percentage reporting...
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...personal accomplishment and significance. Those that enter clinical practice often do so because they are willing to sacrifice a larger pay scale in exchange for doing a job that gives them a sense of accomplishment. Many social workers enter the field with an idealistic view the impact that they will have on the lives of their clients. When this view collides with the reality of serving clients in a bureaucratic and often unstable system, social workers are at risk of feeling that their work does not have a significant impact. The combination of high ideals, the disappointing realities of the system, and poor compensation can put members of helping professions like social workers at risk for feelings of helplessness, cynicism, depression, depersonalization and ineffectiveness-burnout. Burnout may lead clinical social workers to abandon direct practice for their own mental health. Some of the factors that cause burnout in social workers are excessive workload, role conflict, role ambiguity, lack of training, lack of recognition and opportunity for advancement. A social worker will face a high case load with every case being different therefore having some unique challenges. Excessive workload has been linked to feelings of tension, anger, and depression (Baruch-Feldman et al., 2002). High case loads will lead to lack of time for processing stressful situations with your supervisor and co-workers. Social workers are often forced to mediate between the needs of their clients...
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...The role of gender in workplace stress: A critical literature review Kristina 1 Gyllensten and Stephen 2 Palmer Abstract Objective The aim of this review was to evaluate research relating to the role of gender in the level of workplace stress. A further aim was to review literature relating to stressors of particular relevance to working women. These stressors included, multiple roles, lack of career progress and discrimination and stereotyping. Design Systematic review. Method Major databases were searched in order to identify studies investigating gender and workplace stress. A range of research designs included and no restrictions were made on the basis of the occupations of the participants. Results Much of the research indicated that women reported higher levels of stress compared to men. However, several studies reported no difference between the genders. Furthermore, the evidence for the adverse effects of multiple roles, lack of career progress and discrimination and were stereotyping was inconsistent. Conclusion The current review concluded that the evidence regarding the role of gender in workplace stress and stressors was inconsistent. Limitations of the research were highlighted and implications for practice were discussed. Key words: workplace stress, gender, stressors Introduction Workplace stress Stress in the workplace is a major problem for both organisations and employees, and it has been estimated that approximately 13.4...
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...Stress Management Proposal I have taken note of the company’s initiative to introduce an onsite wellness program. I also realize this is to relieve stress here in the workplace. I am submitting my proposal to the company to use of the Diaphragmatic or Deep Breathing technique. I will start with some background on the four components to Psychosocial Health that need to be considered in every employee that need to be taken care of in order to ensure a positive and productive individual. There is an old saying that a happy employee is a productive employee. I feel this is a very true and accurate statement and in order for the company to get the most out its employees, the company needs to make sure it is taking all the steps needed to have happy individuals. The first of the four components is mental health. If an individual has strained or poor mental health you cannot expect the top notch productivity from that individual. If an employee is strained mentally then that can impair their judgment, cause them to wander in thought and waste valuable time, not to mention cause a bad mood therefore bringing down others in the office around them. The second component is emotional health. If an individual is emotionally strained this can cause them to behave irrationally and cloud their perceptions of others in the office. If this occurs it can cause a disruption in moral for the remainder of the office and even cause a chain reaction through the rest of the company. Also if...
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...Critically evaluate the current impact of the topic upon nursing practice and the evolving health care system. Include recommendations for the future of nursing and nursing leaders. The paper is to be eight to ten (8-10) typed pages excluding the reference page and the title page. Use APA format including title page, introduction, conclusion, etc. The paper must be well-written using correct spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. Grading Criteria | Points | Current literature/research on the topic (minimum of five; at least 2 outside nursing, one of which must be from business) | 5 points | Evaluation of the impact of this issue on nursing leadership practice and health care system | 20 points | Recommendation for the future of the nursing profession | 30 points | Provide an exemplar of a nursing leader implementing the recommendations discussed in criterion c above. | 30 points | Scholarly writing | 15 points | TOTAL | 100 points | Stress and Time Management By: Annette Hall St. Joseph’s College of Maine NU506: Nursing Leadership Instructor: Jayne Rogers July 9, 2012 Abstract Managing stress and time in our lives and careers is important to our health and well- being. Nurses in particular have an unusually high stress level. Nurses and nurse managers alike must use stress and time management strategies to decrease burnout and fatigue. The ability to properly manage stress and time will make for a healthier, happier, and productive...
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