Self-Care 101 for Nurses

by June Marshall, RN, MS, CNAA, BC

Most of us are really good at taking care of others. We're also great at giving advice about maintaining healthy balance in our personal and professional lives, but how good are we at walking the talk? I dare to say that as nurse leaders, most of us do not practice what we preach.

Employees look to us as role models. It's tough to mentor nursing staff in the area of healthy work/life balance if we don't have balance in our own lives. Have you put off exercising regularly because of an impending deadline or because you're simply too tired after long hours at work? Do you eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables daily? Do you drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day? Do you take some time each day to relax and do something you really enjoy? Do you get enough uninterrupted sleep at night? Do you often feel tired? Just think about what kind of role model you are.

How healthy are our work environments? Direct patient care is physically demanding and psychologically stressful. Do we offer adequate time for nurses to have rest periods at work? Do we provide the same healing environments for nurses that we provide for patients? How good are we at providing flexible work schedules to accommodate needs of mature nurses who have difficulty still working 12-hour shifts? How creative are we in offering employee wellness programs where direct care nurses can actually participate?

Take a few moments to assess your unit or department. Have a discussion about self care at your next staff meeting. Make self care a priority. Ask for staff input and develop an action plan. Then implement it and evaluate your progress. Make self care and the care of your staff a priority. Try a few simple actions to improve the care of your unit/department:

• Use humor. Find something to laugh about with your staff each day.
• Assess the mature nurses' needs and create flexible scheduling options for them.
• Designate a quiet place where nurses can go to relax and get away from the stresses of work for a few minutes.
• Have a massage therapist come to the unit to give short massages once a month.
• Limit work hours. Avoid overtime except in a crisis. Take vacation time!
• Look for the positives each day. Recognize staff accomplishments. Focus on praise rather than problems.

And last, but certainly not least, practice what you preach!