Self Care for Nurses: Small Doses for Wellness

The term resilience often gets a bad rap, but the ability to take care of yourself during stressors remains key to creating a work environment where you can thrive.

Grounded in research and rich in expertise gleaned from fellow nurses and other practitioners across the healthcare spectrum, Self Care for Nurses: Small Doses for Wellness offers proven self-care strategies that can positively transform your relationship with work. The authors filled this book with practical exercises that will fit easily into your lifestyle and might just keep you from the brink of burnout.

Includes:

• Over two-dozen science-based wellness practices that tend to your mind and body
• Bite-sized exercises that apply the latest in self-care research
• Relatable stories and helpful guidance from nurses and wellness experts that offer inspiration, camaraderie, and support for your challenging-yet-rewarding work as a nurse

Authentic self-care practice is best for you, for your patients, and for your colleagues. Integrating these purposefully simple and easy-to-adopt strategies into your life can help you flourish in good times and grow in difficult ones.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Small Doses for Your Happiness and Health
It’s Not What You Think
Burnout: Sound Familiar?
Rewire Your Brain for Resilience
What’s Your Mindset?
Be a Flashlight
Pay Attention
Cultivate Your Appreciative Practices
Tend Your Emotional Garden
Choose Joy and Positivity
Reframe
Exercise Gratitude
Change Your Question, Change Your Mind
Use Your Vision to Change Your Fate
Go to Your Safe and Happy Place
Cultivate Your Wisdom
Rest
Nourish Your Body and Hydrate
Evaluate Your Alcohol Consumption
Breathe Deeply
Move Your Body
Integrate a Life That Works With a Life That Counts
Make It a Good Place to Work
Take Care of Each Other
The Pause: When a Patient Dies
Mattering Matters
Put an End to Bullying and Incivility
Advocate for Yourself and Others
Lead From Where You Are

NATALIE B. MAY, PhD, is a self-care and resilience researcher and Associate Professor at the University of Virginia School of Nursing.

TIM CUNNINGHAM, DrPH, MSN, RN, FAAN, is the Co-Chief Well-Being Officer for the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University.

DORRIE K. FONTAINE, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the Dean Emerita at the University of Virginia School of Nursing and founder of UVA’s Compassionate Care Initiative.