A recent survey carried out by psychologists at the University of Michigan has found that people who have a strong sense of purpose in their lives are likely to have longer, happier lives.
The study found that people who have a clear purpose in their lives have lower levels of stress, a better quality of life and experience a number of health benefits such as lower stress and a greater degree of psychological wellbeing.
But what does this mean for nurses? There are ways in which this research can indicate benefits for nurses through their work on their own health and wellbeing as well as for the people they nurse back to health.
Work with a purpose
Nursing is considered to be one of the vocations to which people are drawn to fulfil a kind of indescribable ‘calling’. Those who enter the profession often have a strong desire to help others, promote health and wellness amongst the patients with whom they work and see positive outcomes from their work.
Many nurses working in busy hospitals where staffing is short and patient numbers are large can quickly become overwhelmed and burnt out. When you’re dealing with more work than you’re able to manage, whatever that type of work may be, it can be easy to lose sight of what inspired you to enter nursing in the first instance. Couple that with an increased burden of paperwork that takes you away from the real reason you wanted to get into nursing, you’re left feeling as though you no longer have the sense of purpose that you started with. This can lead to dissatisfaction with work and a sense that you’re no longer getting fulfilment from your role.
Nurses working in private healthcare have the opportunity to spend more time with their patients and less on the things that take them away from that patient contact that brought them to the profession. Working in small teams and with the chance to make a real difference to individual patients’ recovery, satisfaction and fulfilment will follow as you regain your sense of why you took up nursing in the first place.
Helping others to re-establish their purpose
One of the benefits of private hospital treatment is the speed with which people can access the healthcare they need and the attention they receive to help them get better. With virtually no waiting time for any investigation or procedure, as soon as it becomes clear that a patient needs to receive treatment they can be seen and set on the path to recovery.
As a nurse working in private healthcare, you have the opportunity to spend time with your patients helping them speed their recovery and build their strength. With the degree of attention that nurses in a private hospital setting are able to offer their patients, they can quickly help people to return to what it is gives their own lives purpose and give them back a greater degree of quality of life.
Conclusion
In the overall picture of health and wellbeing, having a purpose and direction for one’s life is of vital importance in ensuring that people stay healthy both mentally and physically. Nursing in a private hospital setting not only helps nurses rediscover their sense of purpose in a role that they love, it also gives them the opportunity to assist their patients in rediscovering their own purpose as they recover from treatment that can be accessed quickly and easily.
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