You’ve just finished a long night shift and now all you want to do is go home and relax for the rest of the day.
While we’re certainly advocates for getting proper rest (just take a look at our post on Easy Sleep Tips), we’re also huge proponents of proper exercise.
As a traveling healthcare professional, you probably know that exercise can do wonders to your physical and mental health. But unfortunately, many nurses rarely have the time or energy to exercise.
Even so, along with taking care of others, taking care of yourself should be a number one priority. In this two-part series, we’re going to talk about why you should exercise, and how to get yourself into a routine.
To start, here are 3 reasons why exercise is absolutely essential (even as a traveling nurse):
Exercising helps you unwind.
When on the job, you rarely find time to yourself. And at home, you might be thinking about groceries, paying the bills, or trying to catch up on some much-needed shut-eye. As a result, it can be pretty difficult to sit back and think about everything that is going on in your life.
And that’s where exercise comes in. Because exercising can usually be done alone, it gives you the opportunity to reflect on your life. Even just 30 minutes of exercise–whether it’s cardio, yoga, weight lifting, or Tai Chi–can be enough to help you unwind and get in some me-time.
Exercising gives you a routine.
As a nurse–especially one who travels–it can be very hard to find a good work-life balance, and for some, that can be a big source of stress. Setting up an exercise routine is a great way to ground yourself to a consistent schedule. It also gives you something to look forward to every week–working towards a personal exercise goal is great for your body and mind.
Exercising makes you a better role model for your patients.
Taking control of your own exercise habits makes you a great role model for the patients you treat. Research shows that living an active lifestyle will not only make you more willing to promote exercise, it will also encourage patients to do the same because you’ll seem more genuine in the process. You’ll not only be benefiting yourself, then–you’ll very much benefit those around you.
Exercising can be hard, especially when you’ve just finished working a long shift, but taking some time out of your day to exercise can do wonders to help you de-stress and put some routine back in your busy life.
Check back on Wednesday for the rest of our post on exercising. In the mean time, feel free to let us know your thoughts on exercising by connecting with us on Twitter or commenting below!
—
photo credit: HealthGauge via photopin cc
Leave a Reply