Ways of managing stress 

Stress can get us all sometimes. Here we look at what stress can look and feel like. In addition, to ways you can support yourself and your care team.

What can stress feel like?
Stress can be overwhelming or give a sense of dread. Working in care can provide more than one time of stress. An individual may have high or complex needs. An individual may have recently had a bereavement and is struggling with this. A service user has had a fall and requires a hospital admission. A member of staff is off sick and there is no one else is cover but you. There are lots of things that can cause care teams stress. But before we get into ways to manage it, let’s look at some more feelings so we can identify stress.

Feelings of stress may include:

• Anxious
• Lonely
• Constant worry
• Impatience 
• Unable to switch off

You may feel a combination of these and you may also feel others too. Now we’ve gone through some of the feelings, llet’s look at what it might look like.

What might stress look like?
Stress can affect people in different ways. Not only can it affect our emotions, it can also affect how we act or behave.

Stress might look like:

• Biting nails
• Picking at skin
• Pacing
• Affecting your fluid and/or nutrition
• Snapping at others

How can we manage our stress?
We can learn how to manage our stress and if not reduce it by various ways. This may include:

• Reflecting on times you’ve felt stressed and identify the triggers, feelings and signs
• Developing ways of addressing some of the causes that can be solved
• Reflecting on how you manage your time and schedule and plan your
• Seeking support from others – friends, families, professionals
• Looking after your whole self including your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing – you may need to take a break

How can we support our staff?
Our care staff can feel the pressure. Working in care can provide its challenges and difficulties. Here are some ways you can support your team when they are going through a period of stress:

• Check in on your staff – a message, email, card or conversation
• Have an open door policy which staff know about
• Provide or book a managing stress training session or workshop
• Openly talk about stress, wellbeing and mental health within the organisation
• Provide resources relating to stress
• Have a written procedure on how staff can get support if they are feeling stressed

If you’re looking for more information, here are some resources:

• Skills for Care – Building resilience – click here
• Mind – How to manage stress – click here
• Check out our other blog posts – click here

Here are some helplines if you require support:

• If you are in urgent need of medical attention, please call 999 or go to your nearest A&E department
• Samaritians – 116 123 – can be called for free, anytime on any phone
• Cruse Bereavement Care Freephone National Helpline – 0808 808 1677 – (limited hours)

Let us know in the comments below, what has helped you to manage stress?