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Working as a nurse can be incredibly exciting and rewarding. Unfortunately, nursing is also a very stressful profession, and many nurses find that their unpredictable work schedules and rigorous job duties prevent them from maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Still, creating that balance is important, as spending quality time away from work allows you to relax, refocus and ultimately take better care of your patients. If you’re in need of a work-life recalibration, here are three helpful tips to get you started.

Set Limits and Stick to Them

Most nurses get into healthcare because they want to help people, but it’s also important to place reasonable limits on your time while doing so. For starters, do your best each day to stick to a set schedule and leave when your shift is over. Sure, there will always be more patients to care for, but your personal time is valuable too. By maintaining a set daily routine, you can go a long way toward establishing a healthy work-life balance.

Leave Work at Work

In certain professions, people are exposed to situations that stick with them, and nursing is certainly one of those professions. On any given day, a nurse may play a part in a particularly tragic or emotional story, and those stories can affect you long after your shift is over. In order to have a healthy home life, however, you need to do your best to block out work events after you leave for the day. If you spend all night dwelling on something that happened at work, not only will your home life suffer, you’ll also be mentally drained going into work tomorrow.

Take Time for You

One of the easiest ways to improve your work-life balance is to build time for yourself into your schedule. Plan activities with your friends or family that are going to optimize the time you spend away from the office. Also, don’t forget about the little pleasures in life, like taking half an hour out of your day to read a book or take a nap. Most nurses want to do what’s best for their patients, so start thinking of yourself as a patient and focus on giving yourself what you need to have a happy, healthy life.

Let Pulse Staffing Find a Position for You

Since 1988, the experts at Pulse Staffing have helped nurses, medical assistants and administrative staff find positions where they could make the most out of their skills and experience. A local leader in medical staffing, we’ve placed candidates at facilities across central and southeast Texas, and across the country through our travel nurse division. If you’d like to know more about Pulse Staffing’s services, contact our dedicated team.


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