Why Divorce Rate Higher Among Nurses
According to U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Nurses are among the top profession with high divorce rates. Data showed as follows:
• 35% for all non-health care workers
• 33% for nurses
• 31% for health care executives
• 27% for lawyers
• 25% for dentists
• 24% for physicians
• 23% for pharmacists
High Levels of Stress at Work. Nurses are consistently placed under high levels of stress in their roles regardless of their area of nursing in which they work. They are viewed by many as superwomen and supermen and thus have a lot of expectations to live up to. This high level of expectation cause high levels of stress which unfortunately spill into their personal lives causing strife, confusion, and a disconnection between those they love including our spouses. Among the contributing factors are long hours (including weekend/holiday shifts) mandatory overtime, inadequate pay, short staffing and demanding patient care.
Nurses Have Authority. Nursing is a highly respected field! This level of respect often comes with a certain level of power and this power can do one of two things. It can cause your spouse to have a sense of inferiority, which eventually leads to resistance or it can go to up to your heads as nurses because they use it in the incorrect manner, which again causes resistance and separation. Another source of power may come from the average six figure salary of an average nurse per year, the truth is you really have good salaries which sometimes is more than that of male spouses of female nurses and this too can cause a level of resentment because as the male and head of household, most men want to have the sense that they are the majority provider to the household.
Communication Barriers. As nurses, we have been trained consistently in the nursing school on the importance of communication and with all the disciplines and rationale involved in a patient’s care. Now while this may seem true and appear to be a good thing to know the importance of communication as well as doing it on a consistent basis but the questions now are:
Do we really know how to communicate effectively outside of our role as nurses?
Do we know how to effectively communicate with our spouses in a manner that is nurturing to our marriage vs. communicating from nurses take control perspective that is embedded in us?
Yes, we care about others but do we really care enough about our marriage? our family? our kids
We have learned all the nursing skills and practiced them wholeheartedly, but do we know any basic relationship skill needed to have a successful relationship?