(NewsNation) — At the start of her career, neonatal nurse Shannon McPeek experienced a work-related hardship that led to anxiety. Day-to-day life became more difficult and McPeek learned her friends and colleagues were dealing with similar issues.
That’s why she founded Operation Happy Nurse, a nonprofit building a stress relief haven for nurses across the country.
McPeek said she knew nursing was a difficult profession, but she didn’t understand the stressors that nurses are under.
“I understood that I was going to have to deal with patient death; deal with difficult situations. But it’s a lot different when you start experiencing them. Nurses are also the last line of defense,” she said. “So in that, there’s a lot of pressure. So it was a slow buildup of anxiety that led to developing signs and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.”
Operation Happy Nurse offers a free online stress relief community for nurses.
“Nurses can go on to this free online community, pick and choose through the resources that we offer, and their profile adapts to meet their individual interests and needs,” McPeek said.