Imagine spending every day of your life knowing that you’re holding people’s lives in your hands. For a nurse, that is every day. Day in, day out, nurses deal with the humane side of healthcare, thrown headfirst into pain, death and grieving with every patient that crosses the threshold of the hospital. Understandably, the nursing profession has a much higher rate of stress than is associated with other professions. The International Labour Organization has gone as far as creating a stress prevention manual for the profession.Hospitals and other health care centers put a lot of demands on their nursing staff. The nursing shortage means that hospitals are understaffed, and the nurses that do have jobs are overworked. This causes frequent turnover in hospital staff. As they become dissatisfied with the workplace, they find jobs in other industries, further exacerbating the already present issue.The physical pressure of constantly standing and moving patients can cause a huge stress on a nurse’s body. Back and leg muscle problems are pervasive among nurses, in addition to psychological trauma. Working with hazardous materials increases the fear of infection many times over.

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