Signs of MMSS in nurses
Mixed with their feelings of anxiety and depression, nurses with MMSS often have thoughts such as:
- Am I going to lose my license?
- Am I going to lose my job?
- Will my reputation be destroyed? Will I ever be able to work as a nurse again?
- What am I going to do for a living?
- If I lose everything, will my spouse divorce me? Will I lose my kids?
- I don’t think I did anything wrong, but what if I’m still found to be at fault?
- Did I miss something? Did I make a mistake? Was there something more that I should have done?
- What’s going to happen next? What else could go wrong?
- Are there more people out there who are going to sue me?
- Everything feels overwhelming and out of control.
- My entire identity is now in question.
- How do I get this case out of my head? I can’t focus on anything else.
- I’m developing medical problems of my own.
- I’m having difficulty focusing at work and relating to patients; how do I know who’s going to sue me next?
- I wish that I could escape it all; I feel like killing myself.
Gail Fiore is president of The Winning Focus, which works with physicians and other professionals involved in litigation who are having difficulty coping with stress, anxiety, and other emotional issues. A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.