‘Even my hair is tired.’

If you’ve been faced with death, trauma, significant stressors, and losses, you’ve had to be resilient. And boy, did I choose a career with all of the above. I started my nursing career during the AIDS epidemic, and later moved to active duty Air Force nursing, travel nursing, polytrauma, rehab, chronic pain, spinal cord injury, working with the homeless, mental health, and lastly COVID-19. After 27 years of this, even my hair is tired. But I’ve never been so proud to pick this career—it is a calling. As Nurses Month begins, I tear up thinking there aren’t enough words to express my gratitude.

During COVID, understaffing, hourly policy changes, increased workloads and responsibilities, an increase in mental health disorders, the political climate, and anti-science rhetoric only added to the stressors. I had to look hard to find the gold, because every day you could definitely find the rust. I often asked myself, “How can I keep a healthy attitude, a warm heart, continuous focus, and a genuine nurse smile?” The answer for me has been my humor, hounds, and holistic medicine approaches.

Humor as stress relief.

This realization started when I landed in the ED after a period of not taking care of myself after learning my patient died by suicide. Me, an RN, ended up in the ED to be treated for dehydration. And after some embarrassment, I thought, “This is pretty funny.” I had to laugh at myself. I had to make light of it. We can save everyone else, but we can’t always save ourselves.

I had to disclose my diagnosis to my coworkers and boss. We all laughed, out of total fatigue and worry and relief. We held a sharing circle, all of us taking part in some self-deprecating humor: “I ate a gallon of ice cream . . . I went to the gym, but sat in my car.” I liked my colleagues more after our discussion. Self-deprecating humor shows you are humble, reliable, friendly, funny, and trustworthy. In addition, it neutralizes negative information.

After that day, I started using humor more with my coworkers, leaders, and patients. And guess what? It works. So, every day at work, I use humor to make mundane chores or sad news lighter. Humor is a tool that has not only helped me survive nurse days, but to thrive in them.

Hound therapy.

After laughing a lot and working hard at my job, I come home to my hound therapy. I use ecotherapy (forest walking, hiking, being in nature) with my 13-year-old dachshund Lenci, who I adopted during a difficult depression while taking care of soldiers with no legs. Lenci’s demeanor, humor, tail-wags, and unconditional love brought me back to myself.

Even science confirms that dogs make us feel less alone, help our hearts, lower cortisol levels, decrease stress, increase coping skills, and encourage us to move. My wiener Lenci has done all of these things every day after my nursing shift. I promised that when I could, I would rescue another wiener dog, since Lenci had rescued me. I adopted Cali, a four-year-old wiener dog used as a birthing machine at a puppy mill in Fort Lauderdale. I know I have given her a second chance to live her best life. Nurses rescue humans every day—let a fur baby rescue you.

Holistic therapies.

And lastly, a variety of holistic therapies and self-help strategies have kept me resilient. I don’t have time each day to do everything on my list, but I pick one: counseling, positive thinking books, exercise, yoga, self-love with mantras, and meditation. I specifically like guided breathing and mindfulness eating. I encourage others to utilize free apps with some of these practices. One of these practices a day grounds me and brings me back to stillness, peace, and self-love. It reminds me that I am an amazing human, doing amazing things to help others.

So, humor keeps me happy in nursing. My hounds keep me humble and loved after a hard day of caretaking. And holistic medicine keeps me mentally and physically ready for duty. I hope I can influence other nurses to find what makes them resilient and to stay in a profession that is so critically needed. Happy Nurse’s Month my amazing superheroes and sheroes! Keep going! And comment below with what keeps you resilient in your nursing practice.

By Judy Oliverio, RN, BSN, CRRN, CCM. She is a case manager in a VA homeless program, a USAF veteran, and an AATH member.