How do you balance providing emotional support to patients while also managing your own emotional wellbeing?

You can't help others if you don't take care of yourself. My advice is to make sure you take time off regularly...do something you love or just veg at home and rest..( NO GUILT ALLOWED!). You need to "fill your cup" so you can help others fill theirs. As nurses we dot just heal the body, we help heal emotions, doubts, lack of confidence, the SOUL. It takes alot out of us. Remember nursing is a holistic healing process... medicine is more mechanical. I see it like Docs are mechanics fixing and replacing the broken parts while nursing helps fix and heal the broken parts but also looks into why they were broken in the first place and how to help the pt make changes to their life and lifestyle so those breaks don't happen again...sometimes we accomplish huge things by just holding a hand and listening.