Stress, Anxiety, and Grief Management

Stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine increase heart rate, blood pressure, and can lead to irregular heartbeats and angina.

Stress increases breathing rate and widens airways. Hyperventilation, dizziness, and tingling can result.

Stress can cause loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and increased bowel activity (like diarrhea).

Stress causes muscle tension, especially in larger muscles, and potentially tremors in smaller muscles. This tension can lead to spasms.

Look out for nonverbal clues like body language changes in patients who are struggling to cope.

Uncertainty, fear, pain, cost, lack of knowledge, risk of harm, and unknown resources are sources of clinical stress for patients.

Poor patient outcomes, risk of errors, unfamiliar situations, excessive workload, and inadequate resources are sources of clinical stress for nurses.

Stress can cause cardiovascular risks (heart rate, blood pressure, heart attack, stroke), immune system impairment, physical effects (weight gain, hair/skin problems, diabetes, digestive issues, loss of libido), and mental health issues (depression, anxiety, PTSD).

Anxiety is a constant feeling of worry or fear.

Stress is the body's physiological response to a stimulus, while anxiety is the psychological response to a threat.

Mild anxiety is common in daily life, increasing alertness and motivating learning. It can slightly interfere with sleep but aids problem-solving.

Moderate anxiety involves physical symptoms such as a trembling voice, muscle tension, and a feeling of nervousness (butterflies). It also causes increased breathing and pulse.

Severe anxiety greatly impacts learning and communication. Symptoms include difficulty speaking, increased physical activity, fear, headaches, nausea, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and rapid breathing.

Examples of nursing diagnoses related to stress include anxiety, caregiver role strain, ineffective coping, fear, risk for post-trauma syndrome, insomnia, situational low self-esteem, and stress overload.

Strategies like regular exercise, support systems, time management, and guided imagery/visualization to reduce stress.

Physical activity improving muscle tone, posture, weight control, tension reduction, and relaxation, and benefiting cardiovascular health.

Family, friends, and colleagues providing listening, advice, and emotional support to a stressed individual.

Prioritizing tasks and planning effectively to avoid last-minute rushes, leading to reduced stress and a sense of control.

Using imagination to reduce stress by promoting a relaxed state.

Technique involving alternately tightening and releasing muscle groups, promoting relaxation.

Problem-solving approach to address a crisis, helping individuals resolve issues and coping within a defined timeframe (approximately 6 weeks).

The final stage of grief where a person comes to terms with the loss. They may show decreased interest in their surroundings and support people and start making plans for the future.

Various personal, social, and cultural factors impact how individuals experience and manage grief.

The quality and significance of the lost relationship strongly influences the grief response.

A person's socioeconomic status affects their access to resources and support networks for coping with loss.

Medical criteria used to certify death include cessation of breathing, lack of response to stimuli, absence of reflexes, and no spontaneous movement.

A medical examination performed after death to determine the cause of death.

An autopsy is legally required in situations where the death is considered unusual or suspicious.

The process of donating organs from a deceased person to someone in need of a transplant.

Healthcare institutions have policies and procedures for referring potential organ donors to procurement agencies.

Dying on one's own terms, with minimal pain, and feeling a sense of fulfillment and dignity.

Control of symptoms, preparing for death, feeling like one's life is complete, and a positive relationship with healthcare professionals.

Nurses focus on the needs of the dying person and their family, providing care and support.

A good death allows a person to die on their own terms, with minimal pain, and feeling a sense of fulfillment and dignity. It is also about feeling supported and empowered in this process.

An emotion experienced after a loss, not just death, involving complex emotional and physical reactions.

A common, universal reaction to loss and death with emotional, cognitive, and physical responses.

Grief experienced over time as a loss becomes more likely, a process of gradually preparing for the inevitable.

Grief causing extreme sadness, inability to cope, and difficulty re-establishing relationships.

Grief with symptoms lasting a year or more after a loss, affecting daily life and interpersonal relationships.

Physical reactions to grief such as sleep difficulties, weight changes, energy loss, and headaches.

Common emotional responses to loss: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression, can be experienced in different sequences.

Grief can be triggered by any loss event, not just death, such as a job loss or relationship breakup.