Nurses frequently encounter challenging situations. Sometimes it is the practitioner who wants the nurse to take a telephone order despite the institution having computerized physician order entry. Other times it is the patient's support person who is requesting what seems to be the impossible. Many advocate that nurses should care for themselves first to best face the challenging work. Self-care suggestions include meditation, quiet rooms, journaling, as well as plenty of rest and exercise, staying hydrated, and eating healthy meals. While studying the book Self-Care Science, Nursing Theory, and Evidence-Based Practice, by S.G. Taylor and K. Renpenning (2011), this author was contacted by nurses who were having difficulty relating with patients' families. In considering the conversation and the discomfort the nurses were experiencing, the author pondered whether or not the nurses were taking care of themselves? She further deliberated on the notion that perhaps practicing nursing from a particular nursing theoretical perspective would be another approach for nurses to care for themselves. In other words, would there be less discomfort and strain for nurses if they were able to consider difficult practice situations from a particular nursing perspective? Perhaps nurses who find themselves in situations that are untenable could pause and consider the persons or situations from their preferred nursing perspective or from the perspective that their institution has embraced. Nurses who practice from a theoretical perspective have told this author that they experience less work-related stress.
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