How do poor professional relationships affect self-esteem amongst senior nurses and AHP’s?

As senior nurses and AHP’s you know that successful professional relationships in healthcare are pivotal to safe, effective, patient care, and staff well-being.  When it’s not happening, the effects on individuals will vary in severity and impact.

It’s important however to differentiate self- worth from self-esteem, and although related are distinct concepts in psychology.

Self-Worth is the inherent value a person believes they have as a human being. It's more stable and less dependent on external factors or achievements.

It is often rooted in core beliefs about oneself and emphasizes an inherent dignity and the right to exist and be respected.

It’s a concept based on being rather than doing, and is generally more resilient to failure or criticism than self-esteem.

Self-Esteem on the other hand, is an overall sense of personal value and self-respect. It is more variable and can be influenced by recent experiences or achievements, so based more on “doing” and therefore prone to fluctuate based on successes and failures.

It is impacted by feedback from others, and personal accomplishments, and is often tied to competence, performance, and how you compare yourself to others.

The important thing to remember is that self -worth develops earlier in life, while self-esteem continues to evolve throughout your lifetime.

In a nutshell, we know that self-esteem is situational and influenced by external factors like performance or other people’s opinions.  

If you are naturally quiet, it can be hard to stand your ground in a discussion with someone who is more vocal, assertive or senior than yourself. Giving in to decisions that you feel might not be best practice. Collaboration then goes by the wayside in this context.

Are you taking other people’s comments as criticism of your capabilities? Are you judging yourself unfairly by yourself piling on the self-criticism?

Based on those previous experiences, do you end up anticipating a particular reaction or negative feedback from someone?

Are you over reacting to a situation which on the face of it seems quite minor, and end up ruminating over conversations in your off-duty time?

It's not hard to see how you can end up in that spiral of negative thinking about your competence or capability to dealing with particular individuals.

So, what can you do about a situation where you believe your self-esteem is being affected?

-          Firstly, raising your self-awareness is the most significant characteristic to work on.

-          Jot down the feelings you experienced when these interactions took place. What was the trigger? What were you unknowingly anticipating?

-          What if you looked at the constructive effort you could put into improving your professional relationships, rather than expecting a particular outcome?

-          Not everything has to be measurable in your working environment. Recognising the different forms of contributions made by yourself and those around you, can have far more impact on your self-esteem in this context.

-          Try challenging negative thoughts by asking yourself: “Is this thought based on facts or emotions?”

-          Positive self-talk may sound a bit like a cliché’ but it really does help. Phrases that resonate with you personally are the most effective, so build your own! 

Good luck!