Feeling overwhelmed? Nurses know where to find mental strength.

It doesn’t look like we are out of the woods – over the hump, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel – in diminishing the threat of the COVID virus. Is it hard to imagine continuing a dramatically changed life – in family care, work, living – when it feels like there is nothing more to give?

As difficult as individual lives are right now, have you wondered how front-line nurses continue their daunting work… How do they maintain a constancy of care for COVID patients when they are running on empty?

Barbara Mackoff, a consulting psychologist and senior faculty at the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, asked nurses that very question. Their answers – across individuals, across hospitals and situations – describe a singular mental quality of courage, determination and strength within that they didn’t know they possessed until it was absolutely necessary.

“Every night, when I take the elevator up to my floor, I call upon an inner strength to get me through one more night,” said one nurse. “I became a nurse to help. I never believed it would require a special courage, but now I know that is true… the whole hospital is calling upon a unique type of fortitude.” – ICU Nurse

The inherent quality of “sisu”

In the article, Beyond Fortitude:COVID-19 nurses tap a hidden strength, the quality of strength is called “sisu” in Finnish, and it is believed to be a capacity we all have within our consciousness, and universally share. This mental quality surfaces in response to particular adversity, suffering and hardship. The beyond-human strength that is called forward is a mindset to face fears, extend ourselves in the moment of adversity, and take action regardless of circumstances.

A superpower right when needed

Sisu is the next gear, the step UP beyond fortitude to an inherent strength of the spirit already possessed. It is a spiritual superpower – just when you think you are at the end of your rope, running on empty – a hidden strength that empowers you to take on any challenge.

So take heart in the midst of discouraging news. Our front-line nurses are showing us what we all are capable of. Let’s link arms with them and shift into sisu-gear.