Date of Award
Winter 10-18-2021
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
DNP Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department
Nursing
Advisor
Mary Ellen E. Roberts, DNP
Committee Member
Diane McClure, DNP
Committee Member
Teresa Conklin, DNP
Keywords
self-care, burnout, compassion fatigue, nurses
Abstract
An educational initiative was developed and implemented to aid in ascertaining if self-care modalities implemented by nurses lead to decreased symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout, to support current research that self-care practices do prevent compassion fatigue and burnout, and to enhance the growing body of evidence to support nursing and self-care practices. This educational initiative and preventive program included the creation and implementation of a one-hour training session for early identification of burnout among occupational health nurses with a follow up self-enrollment in a four-week initiative focusing on self-compassion interventions and Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) for participating nurses. This was initially rolled out as a pilot session which included 12 occupational health nurses. After evaluation of the pre and post assessment results from the pilot session, the organization approved national (USA and Puerto Rico) roll out to over 100 nurses with 62 nurses self-enrolling and 28 completing all four sessions and the pre and post assessments. Dr. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring and the 10 Caritas Processes were used as the theoretical framework for this initiative with each session focusing on one or two applicable Caritas processes establishing the essence of the program and the reality that caring ability among nurses begins with the ability to care for the self. Pre and post assessment evaluations demonstrated that program participants implemented more self-care practices and experienced fewer symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout. This program and respective sessions can easily be replicated for nurses in any occupational health practice, within other nursing specialties and may also be tailored for all healthcare providers in any setting. It is a cost-effective, approachable, and seamlessly integrated preventive measure that organizations can leverage and all nurses can benefit from.
Recommended Citation
Sanisidro, Betty, "The Best Care Begins With Self-Care: An Educational Initiative for Nurses" (2021). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2944.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2944
