Nursing Wellness

Wellness at Wellstar

Nursing education focuses heavily on learning how to provide care to patients. Very little covers the importance of nurses to care for themselves.

Many nurses find themselves giving everything they have to help patients and deny self-care. It is common to experience symptoms of burnout, including physical and emotional exhaustion, detachment from the meaning of their work and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment. Thoughtful and proactive approaches that address the demands on nurses and offer resources to mitigate those burdens can help prevent burnout and improve their quality of life.

The resources below are intended to help nurses who fall into any of three groups:

1. Nurses maintaining work-life balance and striving to prevent symptoms of burnout
2. Nurses experiencing mild-to-moderate symptoms of burnout
3. Nurses experiencing severe symptoms that warrant more extensive interventions

Virtual Resources

Peer coaching

The Behavioral Health Service Line launched a nursing outreach program in response to the coronavirus pandemic which includes outreach calls to frontline nurses, peer support groups and a referral network to connect with a behavioral health professional for individual stress management guidance. Wellstar nurses can obtain information about these resources by sending a confidential email to [email protected].

Behavioral health podcast series

This series addresses various wellness and stress management topics that nurses can experience. Visit Soundcloud at the links below to listen to Wellstar’s podcast series on managing stress during COVID-19.

• Behavioral Health & COVID-19 Trailer
• 5 Domains of Post-Traumatic Growth
• Uncertainty During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Managing Anxiety Amid COVID-19
• Eating Well During COVID-19
• Sleep During COVID-19
• Parenting During a Pandemic
• Suicide Prevention During COVID-19 Pandemic

Wellness video modules

Using a biopsychosocial approach, Wellstar psychologists create videos that help nurses understand the physical, emotional and social impacts of stress. Each module is accompanied by a skills-based module that helps with application of the methods discussed. Visit the links below at Wellstar’s YouTube channel to view A Comprehensive Stress Management Series.

• Part 1: Comprehensive Stress Management Introduction
• Part 2: Biological Effects of Stress and How to Manage Them
• Part 3: An Introduction to Mindfulness & Diaphragmatic Breathing
• Part 4: Psychological Effects of Stress and How to Manage Them
• Part 5: Challenging Negative Self-Talk
• Part 6: Social Effects of Stress and How to Manage Them
• Part 7: Loving Kindness Meditation

Immersive Wellness Retreats & Training

Resiliency and leadership development events

These are intensive in-person events designed to help nurses develop a lasting resiliency plan to improve personal wellness and work-life balance. Nursing leaders have described the original three-day leadership development experience as “life-changing.” A one-day resiliency course for nurse managers, assistant nurse managers and charge nurses has also led to higher resiliency scores.

Virtual resiliency events

With the world’s need to be more virtual, we are expanding wellness opportunities so nurses can take advantage of support from the comfort of their homes.

Results

Quantified feedback from the original in-person workshop program showed promising results, including:

• 100% reported that the workshop has put them on a path to strengthen their personal resiliency
• 98% participants reported being able to enjoy personal time without focusing on work matters
• 87% reported being able to disconnect from communications during free time
• 83% reported being able to free their mind from work when they are away from it
• 79% reported that they rarely lose sleep over work issues