Fast regulation in high action/high stress environments? It’s possible and here’s how.

Emotional regulation is a critical skill for nurses, yet rarely discussed in clinical settings. In today’s high-stress healthcare environments, nurses face constant emotional and physical demands with minimal opportunities for recovery or processing. The latest episode of The Ritual Nurse podcast addresses this gap with practical, evidence-based techniques specifically designed for healthcare professionals who need to regulate their emotions quickly with little to no privacy.

When I tell you I held on to this for dear life last week during NP week… we are talking death grip. – Riva

The podcast introduces two powerful regulation techniques: “Code Blue to Code You” and “The IV Push.” Both techniques are grounded in neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and dialectical behavior therapy principles, but uniquely adapted for the nursing context. What makes these approaches particularly valuable is their practicality – they can be implemented in as little as 10-30 seconds, even in the busiest clinical environments.

The “Code Blue to Code You” technique is designed for acute trauma situations – whether that’s a literal code, a patient death, or an emotionally charged interaction. When nurses experience trauma, their amygdala becomes hyperactive, triggering the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. This fight-or-flight response can impair decision-making and emotional regulation precisely when nurses need these functions most.

The technique works by activating the prefrontal cortex through grounding practices. In just seconds, a nurse can acknowledge the trauma, find a brief moment of privacy (even just turning to face away from the situation), engage their senses (touch, sight, sound), and recite a grounding mantra. This brief intervention helps modulate the stress response and prevents the body from encoding trauma responses as permanent physical memories associated with clinical situations.

The “IV Push” technique addresses everyday chaos rather than acute trauma. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system – our “rest and digest” system – through diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization. The technique gets its name from the visualization of pushing stress out of the body, like flushing an IV line. You inhale for four counts while tensing a muscle group (like clenching fists), hold briefly, then exhale for six counts while releasing tension and the muscle hold completely.

What makes these techniques particularly powerful is their foundation in both neuroscience and practical nursing experience. They don’t require special equipment, private spaces, or significant time away from patients. They acknowledge the reality that nurses often don’t have time for traditional self-care during shifts but still desperately need emotional regulation tools.

Implementing these practices regularly helps create a narrower band of emotional reactivity, preventing the dramatic roller coaster swings that can lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. By teaching the body to regulate effectively, nurses build resilience over time, making it easier to recover from stressful situations and maintain emotional wellbeing throughout their careers.

Both techniques can be practiced before difficult conversations, procedures, or other anxiety-provoking situations, making them valuable preventative tools as well as crisis interventions. By incorporating these evidence-based grounding techniques, nurses address not only the immediate emotional aftermath of stressful events but foster long-term resilience and emotional wellbeing.

The episode concludes with a reminder that while the healthcare context will always contain stressors, these skills provide nurses with healthy ways to withstand those pressures, thrive professionally, and provide optimal patient care while preserving their own wellbeing. As the podcast host emphasizes, “healing nurses heal nursing” – making these personal regulation practices essential to transforming nursing culture as a whole.

Practicing these techniques and the rest you’ll find on the podcast is best done when you aren’t in that taxing level 10 moment. You want to craft space for yourself to work these ‘muscles’ out and develop the muscle memory to turn to these skills in the moments it’s really hard to process. – Riva