As a PMHNP, why is it important to build psychological resilience in yourself in order to best meet the needs of your patients?

MN 661 Unit 6 Assignment
Stress is a human brain’s response to threats that results in the disturbance of the physical or mental balance. The human nervous system responds to any challenge presented which results in the initiation of the fight and flight response. The American Institute of Stress asserts that stress has significant implications such as risks of depression, stroke, anxiety, heart attack and immune system disturbance. Stress happens in three phases namely alarm, resistance and exhaustion phase. The first phase is characterized by the release of adrenaline, noradrenalin and corticosteroids in the blood leading to the initiation of the fight or flight response. It is followed by the second phase characterized by the body trying to create equilibrium and signs of stress developing. The third phase is the exhaustion phase when the body shuts due to stress. Individuals need to develop stress resilience which is the extent to which an individual effectively adapts to stressful conditions. Nurses invest in building psychological resilience which helps them overcome adversity and enhances their ability to provide quality care. This paper examines the implications of stress and the importance of building psychological stress.

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Physical and Mental Effects of Stress
Stress entails the way the mind reacts to biochemical processes due to a stressful condition leading to anxiety and depression. It occurs as a result of a lack of appropriate resources to address the requirement in the body. Stress has implications for the mental and physical aspects of human health. Stress is linked to the development of anxious states and reduced well-being. It is linked to adverse quality of life (Pascoe et al., 2019). Continued stress events lead to the establishment of more serious mental conditions including depression and anxiety. Stress also has significant implications on the physical aspect of the human body. These include adverse implications on the immune system, central nervous system, digestive system and cardiovascular system (Zafar et al., 2021). It is asserted that stress has adverse implications on learning. It also impacts the immune system since it undermines the ability to fight off antigens. A stressed individual is prone to an increased risk of infections. The stress hormone corticosteroid can undermine the effectiveness of the immune system. Additionally, it leads to prolonged issues for the heart and blood vessels resulting in heart rate and blood pressure (Zafar et al., 2021). Various cardiovascular diseases are linked to stress. For instance, there is hypertension since stress impacts blood vessels, the heart and various body operations. There is also coronary artery disease as it is reported that mental stress can lead to angina which intensifies CAD (Zafar et al., 2021). Stress also has adverse impacts of stress on the functionality of the central nervous system. For instance, it affects memory in which stress reduces spatial memory and incapacitates verbal memory. It also affects cognition and learning as it reduces cognition leading to the development of behavioral cognitive and mood disorders (Yaribeygi et al., 2017). These are the main effects of stress on mental and physical health.
Psychological Resilience and its Importance
The American Psychological Association has defined psychological resilience as the process by which an individual becomes sufficiently adapted when they encounter trauma, threats, tragedy and adversity. Psychological resilience can be considered an individual’s measure of their ability to cope with stress (Wu et al., 2020). It is vital as it helps safeguard individuals from mental and physical health conditions resulting from stress. It is also important in helping individuals deal with situations that increase the risk of mental and physical health conditions. Therefore, improved resilience reduces depression and minimizes potential cases of mental health conditions. Resilience is a factor that plays a critical role in the psychopathological process of mental disorders (Denckla et al., 2020). It mediates the stress response of stressful conditions which means that an increased level of resilience acts as a protective mechanism and reduces resilience increasing the vulnerability of an individual to pathological effects of adverse stress.
Psychological resilience also involves the development of appropriate coping skills for an individual. These coping skills involve cognitive and behavioral changes that emanate from the management of a person’s specific external and internal stressors (Wu et al., 2020). Coping styles are categorized into three namely problem-focused, emotion-focused and avoidance coping. Problem-focused coping involves skills that an individual uses to try and address the stressful condition with active efforts to minimize its implications. Emotion-focused coping involves skills related to emotional responses to stressful conditions through anger or self-preoccupation (Wu et al., 2020). Lastly, there is avoidance coping which entails trying to avoid stressful events through social means instead of trying to actively deal with the situation. There are various skills an individual can adopt to cope with stress such as being active, taking control, avoiding unhealthy habits and socializing.
Importance of Building Psychological Resilience for PMHNP
Mental health nursing is significantly demanding and has stressful conditions for the nurses. As a result, it affects the nurses’ quality of life. The work in mental health nursing is significantly interpersonal and the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) often utilize themselves as a therapeutic tool to offer care for the patients. They use their mental, relational and emotional skills (Bui et al., 2023). Therefore, these nursing professionals experience work environment stress concerning their interpersonal relations with the clients. There is also the possibility of organizational and occupational stressors and this leads to adverse implications on the PMHNP’s health and wellbeing. It is important to build psychological resilience as a high level of resilience is vital for occupations that are characterized by increased levels of stress (Alonazi et al., 2023). Therefore, improved psychological resilience is vital for nurses to help them alleviate emotional and physical exhaustion. One of the main factors that can improve psychological reliance for the PMHNP is mindfulness which relates to an intettional state of awareness. The nurses focus on the present issue with acceptance and in a non-judgmental manner. It is vital as it helps deal with stressful situations and prompts growth and adaptive reintegration (Hanna & Pidgeon, 2018). Research shows mindfulness is significantly linked to resilience. Mindful-based interventions minimize stress and enhance well-being in different situations. For instance, its value for mental health nurses cannot be understated. It minimizes the PMHNP’s psychological distress (Othman et al., 2023). There are also assertions that mindful-based interventions minimize emotional burdens and burnout for nurses. As a result, a PMHNP is well-balanced to offer quality services to patients in mental health settings.
Healthy Coping Mechanism
The understanding of signs and symptoms of stress is vital for enabling a person to deal with stress through the adoption of appropriate stress management approaches. There are various healthy coping mechanisms one can implement to help in having a healthy work-life balance in addition to coping with stressful conditions. First, one should set realistic limits to enable effective stress management. Various commitments should be listed determining those that make one overwhelmed and cutting back on tasks that are not vital. In the professional setting, one should discuss their responsibilities with their supervisors which enables them to accept commitments only when they feel they can control the stress. Another healthy mechanism is ensuring the maintenance of healthy social support with family and friends. It is vital to offer emotional support during stressful situations and help improve resilience. Lastly, it is important to set realistic expectations, especially concerning work and life balance. It is vital to ensure that a person has both work and social life and set realistic expectations for both.
Areas of Improvement for Psychological Resilience
There are various areas one should set goals to help build psychological resilience. These areas include connections, wellness, meaning and healthy thinking. Building connections involves prioritizing relationships and being part of social groups (APA, 2020). Fostering wellness involves taking care of oneself, avoiding negative outlets and practising mindfulness. One should also embrace healthy thoughts by keeping things in perspective and accepting change (APA, 2020). Lastly, one should find purpose which involves helping others and seeking to achieve personal goals.
Conclusion
Stressful situations have significant implications on mental and physical health. It can lead to depression, anxiety and altering of body functions. Therefore, individuals need to build their psychological resilience which is vital in coping with stress. Those in stressful occupations such as PMHNPs should build their resilience which enables them to be balanced to offer quality services to their clients. It is vital to have healthy coping mechanisms such as setting limits which is important for creating a favourable work-life balance.

References
Alonazi, O., Alshowkan, A., & Shdaifat, E. (2023). The relationship between psychological resilience and professional quality of Life Among Mental Health Nurses: A cross-sectional study. BMC Nursing, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01346-1
APA. (2020, February). Building your resilience. https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience/building-your-resilience
Bui, M. V., McInnes, E., Ennis, G., & Foster, K. (2023). Resilience and Mental Health Nursing: An Integrative Review of Updated Evidence. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 32(4), 1055–1071. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13132
Denckla, C. A., Cicchetti, D., Kubzansky, L. D., Seedat, S., Teicher, M. H., Williams, D. R., & Koenen, K. C. (2020). Psychological resilience: An update on definitions, a critical appraisal, and research recommendations. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1822064
Hanna, A., & Pidgeon, A. (2018). Leveraging mindfulness to build resilience and professional quality of life in human service professionals. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 03(02), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.icm.1802007
Othman, S. Y., Hassan, N. I., & Mohamed, A. M. (2023). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on burnout and self-compassion among critical care nurses caring for patients with COVID-19: A quasi-experimental study. BMC Nursing, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01466-8
Pascoe, M. C., Hetrick, S. E., & Parker, A. G. (2019). The impact of stress on students in Secondary School and Higher Education. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823
Wu, Y., Yu, W., Wu, X., Wan, H., Wang, Y., & Lu, G. (2020). Psychological resilience and positive coping styles among Chinese undergraduate students: A cross-sectional study. BMC Psychology, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00444-y
Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI J, 16, 1057–1072. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17179%2Fexcli2017-480
Zafar, M. S., Nauman, M., Nauman, H., Nauman, S., Kabir, A., Shahid, Z., Fatima, A., & Batool, M. (2021). Impact of stress on the Human body: A review. European Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 3(3), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejmed.2021.3.3.821

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Recall what you have learned in the program thus far related to stress effects on the mental and physical body as well as what resilience is. Discuss why it is important to build psychological resilience in yourself in order to best meet the needs of your patients.