Nurse Practitioners: The Negative Effects of Unhealed Trauma
As a Nurse Practitioner, you might not be aware of the root cause of your burnout. Burnout is often associated with the work-loads, lack of support, and demands of your profession. What is often overlooked is trauma. This can easily lead to secondary trauma and compassion fatigue.
Especially if you’re caring for dying patients and witnessing the suffering of your patients. The feeling of helplessness reduces the feelings of empathy and sensitivity towards your patients, which can affect the quality of care you provide.
If trauma is left untreated, it can lead to a host of adverse consequences, including increased risk of clinician burnout, physical illnesses, depression, anxiety, PTSD, severe fatigue, medical errors, and even suicidal ideation. However, when delving deeper, your work experience is possibly mirroring to you unhealed trauma stemming as far back as your childhood.
Common Traumas Related to Burnout:
The absence of a parent who didn’t provide emotional and physical support.
A parent that neglected your needs and wasn’t available for you.
One or both parents suffering from a mental illness, drug or alcohol addiction.
Having a sibling or family member who has suffered from a mental or physical illness.
The death of a parent, caretaker, or family member.
Sexual, physical, mental, and emotional abuse of any kind.
Having to become a caretaker to a sick parent or family member.
Often growing up in these environments didn’t feel safe and loving. You learn that your needs aren’t important since they were never a priority. Taking care of yourself isn’t something you are accustomed too, especially if you have to become a caretaker for a parent or loved one. If you weren’t able to save or heal a loved one, subconsciously, you’re trying to accomplish that with your patients. This level of trauma can lead to an imbalance in relationships and toxic work environments. Subconsciously you gravitate towards careers and relationships that mimic what is familiar and the environment you were raised in.
If trauma is left unhealed, it’s common for nurse practitioners to struggle with self-love, self-care, and boundaries; which are signs of codependency.
Codependency Characteristics:
Making other’s needs a priority rather than your own.
Not feeling good enough and having low self-esteem.
Identifying your worth from being needed.
Constantly pleasing others more than yourself.
Having the need to save lives to feel valuable.
Believing you have to over-give to get your needs met.
Becoming obsessed with excessive caretaking.
Suffering in relationships that are one-sided and toxic.
Having a need to control outcomes in order to feel safe.
Validating your worth through high achievements.
Experiencing a constant struggle to ask for what you need and set healthy boundaries.
Desperately seeking being heard, validated, and approval from others.
Choosing careers as caretakers because of its familiarity.
Constantly finding yourself in toxic/dysfunctional relationships and work environments.
Suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD, or addictions.
If you have identified with any of these characteristics, you’re possibly suffering from codependency. In order to heal codependency, learning how to re-parent your inner child is essential. Healing your inner child will allow you to experience self-love, thus making your self-care a priority. Fully understanding that quality patient care starts with loving yourself, will result in no longer feeling depleted. You will come from a place that is rejuvenated and full of love for yourself and others. Your self-esteem will improve resulting in setting healthy boundaries at work and in your relationships.
Healing Begins With:
Discovering the root cause of the trauma causing your burnout.
Healing your inner child and giving it what it needs.
Identifying what you have learned from your trauma.
Practicing mindfulness such as: meditation, breathing, and self-awareness.
Having compassion for yourself which promotes a feeling of self-worth.
Letting go of resentment and forgiving those who have hurt you.
Setting healthy boundaries at work and home.
Choosing safe relationships and environments over toxic ones.
Seeking help from a trauma specialist who will help you process your trauma.
As a nurse practitioner, healing your trauma will help you become emotionally regulated and strengthen your resilience. Managing your workload and providing quality care for your patients becomes easier. As you heal, you will gain clarity on how to ask for what you need, resulting in creating balance in your work/home life. Through the healing process, you will no longer tolerate toxic/dysfunctional people and environments. Managing these individuals and environments will be easier.
Remember, your mental and physical health is the most important thing. The best way to take care of others is to take care of yourself first. Be kind to yourself and give yourself grace as you work through your trauma. Most import, don’t give up! Healing takes time, but it’s worth your inner peace.