The Importance of Promoting Self Care to Nurses

Mrs Elaina Mullery1

1Happy Nurse AU, MINDARIE, Australia

 

Introduction: Nursing is a physically and emotionally demanding career.  Nurses are always there to care for a stranger as if they were one of their own.  One in four nurses is reported to experience burnout at some point in their career.

My Experience: Burnout / Compassion Fatigue impacts the nurse both professionally and personally and has a negative impact on patient care and the organisation in which they are employed.  Self care has a positive impact on the prevention of compassion fatigue and burnout in health professionals.  Education on the early signs of burnout and the encouragement of a  personal self care program is a matter of importance to the nursing profession in my opinion.

Conclusion : During my presentation, I will address what I believe is a holistic approach to self care.  I have developed a model of self care which addresses five social psychological aspects of self.  This model allows the nurse to develop a deeper level of self awareness whilst caring for their Mental, Physical, Emotional, Spiritual and Indulgent self care needs.

  1. Poghosyan, Lusine et al. (2010). Nurse Burnout and Quality of Care: Cross-National Investigation in Six Countries. Research in nursing & health, 33.4, 288 – 298.
  2. Maytum, J. C., Heiman, M. B., & Garwick, A. W. (2004). Compassion fatigue and burnout in nurses who work with children with chronic conditions and their families. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 18, 171–179

Biography:

Elaina Mullery RN studied nursing at The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.  She spent the first ten years of her career in Scotland before moving to Perth, Australia in 2010.  Her clinical experience has been across a variety of settings including Orthopaedic Trauma, Operating Room, Endoscopy, Recovery and Day Surgery.  She currently works in PACU.

Elaina has first hand experience of stress and burnout.  It was this experience which led her to develop a passion for personal development. She has a diploma in Mindfulness and Meditation, is a certified hypnotherapist and a certified NLP Practitioner.