One of the most important professions in society is nursing. You give our communities an essential service as frontline employees. You do it with a level of commitment uncommon in most other professions. Nursing is a rare occupation that allows people to practice selflessness and altruism while earning a living. And despite frequently working long shifts under demanding circumstances, you still provide your patients with top-notch care.
Although excellent at caring for others, you might need to be more adept at caring for yourself. Many nurses put their patients’ needs before their health and well-being. Burnout, compassion fatigue, and many other issues might result from this.
Additionally, you and your colleague’s nurses are not immune to the negative effects of long shifts and irregular hours on your skin. This can worsen pre-existing skin diseases, including eczema and psoriasis, and cause dryness, wrinkles, acne, and acne.
Long nursing shifts may make taking care of your skin health seem a low priority, but it’s important because it’s your largest organ and the first line of defense against infection, your skin. Put on some gloves, grab your favorite skincare routine, and let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Before Your Shift:
Being proactive might occasionally be a smart defense. As a result, taking care of your skin throughout your shift will begin before you even arrive.
Hydration: Drinking water is the first step in preparing yourself for success. Make sure you’re properly hydrated when you begin your workday. This will help you remove toxins and maintain the skin health from the inside out.
Naturally, we advise drinking less water than you must use the loo every ten minutes. We are aware. However, that life can get busy sometimes, making it difficult to receive the fluids you require for work. Therefore, hydrating before work will help reduce some skin issues you could later suffer.
Cleanse Your Face and Take Off All Makeup: Before starting your shift, take off all makeup. This will make it easier to keep your skin breathing throughout your change. Additionally, if you begin your shift with a clean slate, pores will be less likely to clog, especially when wearing PPE. Micellar water is a popular makeup removal tool among nurses. Others will use an oil cleanser to remove their makeup first, followed by a cream cleanser.
Moisturize – Nurses frequently wash their hands several times throughout their shift, which can cause dry, chapped hands. However, your body can experience dryness in places besides your hands during your shift. Therefore, it’s imperative to moisturize your skin daily, particularly if you work long hours. Every body part, including your face, should be moisturized lightly. Pick a thicker formulation for very dry areas like your hands and feet.
Throughout Your Shift
When it comes to working shifts, you are aware of the damage that wearing masks, face protection, and other PPE for extended periods will do to your skin. Nurses may have problems including friction, dryness, and acne while working. Not to mention bruises and worsening pre-existing conditions like psoriasis and dermatitis. However, by following a few easy steps, you can help maintain the health and beauty of your skin.
Creams and Products for Barriers: a cream or other product that acts as a barrier between your skin and objects that can irritate it. For nurses like you, this might be helpful. They can first aid in preventing your skin from being overly dry. Additionally, they can aid in preventing rubbing from other PPE, including masks.
Products containing zinc oxide and petroleum jelly will also work, as would hydrocolloid dressings like Duoderm. Remember that excessive use of them may clog pores, so if you don’t wash your face frequently, you’re trading one problem for another. That leads us to our next point.
Wash and Moisturize Your Face: It might seem obvious, but washing your face while working might assist in getting rid of grime, sweat, and oil that build up over the day. Also, moisturize your skin after washing it. This will keep your skin looking young and help avoid outbreaks. To prevent drying out your skin, start by cleansing with a mild cleanser and lukewarm water. After that, moisturize your face lightly to keep it hydrated.
Protect Your Skin from the Sun: The danger of sun damage increases for nurses who work outside or in well-lit environments. Apply sunscreen to exposed skin that has an SPF of 30 or higher. Apply sunscreen again every two hours or more frequently if you’re exercising or swimming.
The following shift
After a long shift, continue moisturizing and hydrating your skin for the greatest results. Eat well-balanced meals, drink plenty of water, and moisturize your skin. To give your skin a fresh start by removing dead skin cells, you could also use a mild exfoliant. Just be careful not to overdo it because excessive exfoliating can sometimes irritate the skin.
Final Thoughts
These are but a few suggestions to help you maintain your skin health while working long nursing shifts. It may be challenging to carve out time for self-care when you continuously care for others. However, we hope that these pointers will enable you to get the most out of your time and cruelty-free skincare products. So please, look after yourself to keep looking after others. Thank you, nurses, for everything you do! You are the foundation of the medical industry.
Also read:- 4 Easy DIY Regimens for Glowing Skin
