Undoubtedly, pursuing a career in nursing is one of the best decisions you can make. After all, nurses are an integral part of healthcare and enjoy financial benefits as well as emotional rewards. However, when it comes to nursing, people often forget about the dangers involved in the career. It all seems to be about taking care of patients and saving lives. But it’s crucial to note that nursing comes with its own set of workplace hazards that must be considered for a safe and successful career. Throughout their careers, nurses encounter infectious diseases, depression, and even aggressive patients, among several other dangers, while providing care to people. Without being aware of the workplace hazards around you, the highly demanding career of nursing may get a lot tougher than you can expect. So, to help you excel in your career, here are the five biggest dangers you must be aware of as a nurse.

Sleep deprivation

We all know how important a good night’s sleep is for our minds and bodies. However, healthcare facilities are operating 24/7 as there’s always someone who needs medical care. As a result, nurses often need to be present at clinics and hospitals throughout the day, working through tiring night shifts. In such a situation, it’s easy to become sleep-deprived. This not only harms the physical and psychological health of nurses but jeopardizes their careers. Sleep-deprived nurses have reduced job performance and are very likely to harm patients due to mistakes and lack of focus.

However, nurses can avoid sleep deprivation by following a planned schedule and using their time efficiently to create enough time for rest. But to do so and handle the workload efficiently. This is where msn to np programs online come in. Getting an advanced education will equip you with the right skills and knowledge needed to avoid workplace dangers in nursing and advance in your career.

Physical injuries

In terms of work, nursing can be a highly demanding job. Each day, nurses have to assist patients and transfer them while walking for hours without any rest. As a result, countless nurses suffer from physical exhaustion and even musculoskeletal injuries. Musculoskeletal injuries can make it impossible for nurses to work or live a normal life without proper care and preventative measures. Therefore, it’s best to work in teams while lifting, moving, and assisting patients, to divide the weight and workload. Moreover, wearing comfortable shoes can help reduce damage from walking on a hard floor.

However, musculoskeletal injuries are not the only physical damage that nurses face. Nurses need to handle medical items such as needles and scalpels during their careers. Such tools can be incredibly sharp and can easily cause an injury. Therefore, it’s not surprising how the CDC estimates that about 1000 injuries involving sharp objects occur each day in healthcare facilities. In addition to this, nurses are often physically harmed by aggressive, mentally ill, or drugged patients. This can lead to many physical injuries and even death in rare cases.

Infection

Nurses’ jobs demand them to work closely with patients, often requiring physical contact. Even after wearing protective gear and maintaining cleanliness, it’s pretty challenging to avoid contracting infectious diseases present in patients. Highly contagious diseases may not even need physical contact to be transferred to nurses. Some of the contagious diseases that nurses are frequently exposed to include flu, HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and MRSA.

Furthermore, even if nurses do not work directly with patients, they may still contract infectious diseases. For instance, it’s very likely for a nurse to come into contact with an item touched by a diseased patient. Diseases can also spread through needlestick injuries, as used syringes can often harm nurses due to improper disposal. Once a nurse is infected, the disease can rapidly spread to other healthcare workers before the infected nurse is quarantined.

Harmful chemicals and radiation

Healthcare facilities make excessive use of toxic items such as poisonous chemicals and radioactive substances. As a result, nurses are very likely to be exposed to toxic substances, leading to significant physical damage and diseases. In fact, around 8 million healthcare workers suffer exposure to harmful substances in the US alone. For example, nurses can accidentally be exposed to the drugs themselves while administering drugs to patients. Even a small quantity of a powerful drug can lead to concerning health issues. Furthermore, healthcare facilities heavily use cleaning products, disinfectants, formaldehyde, and sterilant, to maintain cleanliness. While doing so reduces the risk of infectious diseases, it increases exposure to the harmful chemicals present in cleaning substances.

However, radioactive chemicals and equipment can be far more dangerous than poisonous chemicals, as they can cause cancer. During their careers, nurses often come in close contact with radioactive equipment such as x-ray machines and CT scanners. Additionally, nurses may also come into contact with radioactive chemical tracers.

Depression

As mentioned earlier, nursing is a highly exhausting and demanding job. Many nurses cannot cope with their responsibilities as there’s too much to handle. This not only causes physical injuries and sleep deprivation but also contributes to severe cases of mental burnout and depression. After all, working tirelessly every day with little to no rest is bound to cause psychological distress. The pressurizing and chaotic environment of a healthcare workplace contributes further to stress and depression in nurses.

But more importantly, nurses deal with people in severely bad conditions and dying patients on a daily basis. Even those with a strong stomach cannot avoid the psychological effects of such emotionally challenging situations. As a result, many nurses end up blaming themselves for the death of patients. This can cause severe depression that may even lead to suicidal tendencies while making the nurses unfit to perform their jobs. Moreover, nurses suffering from depression also get involved in substance abuse, leading to further mental and physical health issues.

Conclusion

It’s true that a career in nursing comes with many benefits, such as financial stability and a successful future. However, to successfully reap those benefits, it’s essential to first overcome the workplace hazards in nursing, such as those mentioned above. After all, you can’t save lives without saving your own first. So, keep in mind the dangers of nursing while pursuing your career for a safe and successful future.