Here's how you can maintain your energy levels as a nurse throughout the day.

Agree, along with that how we eat also matters a lot.. Usually we should be in parasympathetic nervous system state before and while and sometime after the meal. This is state of tranquility, where body is ready for digesting the food effectively. Simple exercise like, deep breathing for 10 time and keeping all the distraction away can help to come in this stage 🙂

Try to get 30g of protein at breakfast lunch and dinner. Breakfast can be the hard one, especially given most ' breakfast food' is carbohydrates heavy, but is the most important to consider protein intake. This will give you a slow release of energy from meals and prevent spikes in energy and sugar cravings.

These are great suggestions. I like to focus on clean eating of fruits, veggies, grains and adequate protein paced throughout the day every 3-4 hours to curb cravings and the desire to get those grab and go not so nutritious convenience foods. Most people do not know their protein needs for body optimization. Consuming inadequate protein leads to sarcopenia, a sluggish metabolism and feeling sluggish.

Agreed 👍 Most of the times, in break we tend to scroll social media.. Ideally we should ensure, we are not doing in our short breaks otherwise it will not be of much use.

Even if you can not step out, take a mindfulness break for a few seconds to minutes. Switch off from all your thoughts and jobs. Pay attention to yoir surroundings in a non-judgemental way or simple pay attention to your breath - perhaps do some box breaths.

Be sure to take breaks, put your feet up and close your eyes for a few minutes. Set the times on your phone. Go browse the gift shop if in the hospital. Get your mind off your tasks! Take your meal breaks! Go take a walk and take a nutritious smoothie with you for lunch. Get outside!

Nurses often spend extensive hours indoors, deprived of sunlight. When we finally step outside on our days off, we shield ourselves with sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses. Surprisingly, 77% of us lack sufficient vitamin D without realizing it. This deficiency directly affects our sleep patterns and quality, aggravated by the daily stressors that lead to hypervigilance. These factors collectively hinder our ability to attain restorative sleep. Adding to this, we lack adequate education on sleep complexities, both for our patients and ourselves. My recommendation, as an expert in sleep, is to increase vitamin D levels to improve sleep quantity and utilize breathwork to regulate your nervous system and improve sleep quality.

Agreed, one things we should not miss, is sleeping on the same time. Sleeping on the same time help body to get into the routine and release the hormones in sync.

Caffeine has a half-life of 12-13 hours so try to avoid it entirely in the second half of the day, especially if you are sensitive to it.

Sleep is vital to allowing our bodies to repair and reset every day. Night shift workers suffer the greatest from sleep problems. When I have someone that complains about eating clean but is unable to lose weight, I look at their sleep and stress!

Having worked in the NHS, I found that the thing that would get me to go to the gym on my way home was not Aesthetics and vanity, but the knowledge that if I got my workout in I would sleep better, control stress and turn up better the next day to do my job. Even if you lack energy, workout. It will give you more back than it takes, once you recover well and get some sleep.

Get up and move even if you don't feel like it! You'll be glad you did after the first few minutes! Walk 30 minutes a day and work on strength training to developer lean healthy muscles.

We all have stress if some sort! There will always be something. There are many ways to handle it. 1. Quality nutrition 2 Exercise 3. Hydration 4. Hobbies 5. Plant adaptogens 6. Adequate sleep 7. No overscheduling your day

All good points. Exercise! Especially if it is mindful exercise like yoga or a Spin class where you stay in the moment with the moves or music.