Ever felt that you were working alone with no one to turn to? Or that your caseload was getting on top of you, and you just wanted to let off steam?

We’ve all been there at some point in our careers and while nursing is all about caring for others, it’s sometimes easy to wonder who is caring for us.

Getting support from your colleagues is a crucial part of working as a nurse, where long hours and the demands of patient care can mean that managing stress is not always easy. In acute hospitals, the number and accessibility of colleagues on any shift means that support is never far away. But in general practice, many of you spend a significant portion of your working day alone and it’s not always obvious who you should turn to after a distressing episode of care, or even if you’ve just had a rough day.