Today our topic of discussion is Nursing Management of Stress.
Nursing Management of Stress
NURSING MANAGEMENT OF STRESS
The client faces an array of potential stressors, or demands that can have health consequences. The nurse needs to be aware of the situations that are likely to result in stress and also must assess the client’s appraisal of the situations.
The major areas that provide the nurse with useful guide in the assessment process include demands, human response to stressors and coping. It is always better to observe the following indices of stress, in which some are psychologic, some are physiologic, some behavioral, and some reflect social behavior and thought process.
Some of these reactions may be coping behaviors:
- General irritability, hyperexcitation or depression
- Dryness of the throat and mouth
- Overpowering urge to cry or run and hide
- Easily fatigued, loss of interest
- Floating anxiety-do not know what or why
- Easily started
- Stuttering or other speech difficulties
- Hypermobility, pacing, moving about, cannot look still
- GI symptoms-butterflies in the stomach, diarrhea, vomiting
- Change in menstrual cycle Loss or excessive appetite
- Increased use of legally prescribed drugs, e.g. tranquilizers
- Accident proneness
- Disturbed behavior
- Pounding of the heart
- Impulsive behavior, emotional instability
- Inability to concentrate
- Feelings of unreality, weakness or dizziness
- Tension, alertness
- Nervous laughter
- Grinding of teeth
- Insomnia
- Perspiring
- Increased frequency of urination
- Muscle tension and migraine, headache
- Pain in the neck and lower back
- Increased smoking
- Alcohol and drug addiction
- Nightmares.
- The probable nursing diagnosis in coping-tolerance pattern will be as follows:
- Impaired adjustment
- Caregiver role strain
- Ineffective individual coping; defensive coping/ ineffective denial
- Ineffective family coping; compromised
- Ineffective family coping; disabled
- Family coping; potential for growth
- Post-trauma response
- Relocation stress syndrome
- Risk for self-harm
- Risk for violence.
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