Self Care Action Plan for Nursing Practice

Self-Care: An Action Plan for Reflective Nursing Practice
A. Reflection on Personal Self-Care Practices in the MANE-BSN Program
1. My values about healthy self-care activities
In my opinion, the relevance of healthy self-care activities cannot be overstated in the contemporary nursing environment. It is important to note that it is part of a nurse’s duty to promote the health and wellbeing of patients in an often stressful and challenging health care environment. In so doing, nurses could neglect their own needs and thus box themselves into a corner – from an emotional, mental, as well as physical wellbeing perspective (Jackson, 2004). For this reason, there is need to ensure that even in seeking to meet patient needs, one’s own health are not entirely neglected. Some balance ought to be found. Practicing regular self-care is of great relevance in seeking to manage the strenuous nature of the profession. It helps to be able to cope with daily challenges, and promotes physical, emotional psychological and spiritual wellbeing. It also enhances the safety and quality of patient care.
2. Reflection on personal self-care practices
For those in the helping profession, self-care could easily be one of the most important activities in the entire health and wellbeing promotion equation. This is a fact I never gave much thought to prior to joining nursing school. My schedule was largely crowded and I had to juggle between work, school, and taking care of my young kids. I totally lost myself in this setup. Today, I am fully aware of the relevance of practicing self-care given its direct link to the further promotion of better care for others. The assignment I wrote about self-care on the first semester of nursing school completely changed my perception. Thanks to this assignment, I developed a different perception of self-care and got familiar with key concepts of self-care.
At present, my schedule remains busy but I continue to practice the relevant self-care activities. Towards this end, I routinely practice activities that promote each category of self-care: i.e. physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual. Addressing all categories is of great relevance given that “emotional and spiritual health are interrelated with physical and mental aspects of life (Crane and Ward, 2016, p. 339). Activities that help me to stay physically healthy are inclusive of developing a regular sleep routine, eating a healthy diet, and getting exercise on a regularly basis. On the other hand, activities that help me promote my emotional and psychological wellness include keeping a reflective journal, balancing leisure and work time, and creating time to engage with friends and family. I also tend to be a deeply spiritual individual who is well aware of the critical role God plays in our daily lives. My spiritual wellbeing is well catered for as a result.
3. The role health self-care plays in today’s healthcare environment
In essence, healthy self-care plays a huge role in today’s healthcare for both clients and nurses. From nurses’ perspective, the nursing profession concerns itself with the promotion of the health and wellbeing of others. However, the roles and duties of nurses in the clinical setting could be mentally and emotionally taxing as well as physically demanding. For this reason, nurses ought to embrace self-care as an approach towards the preservation of their own wellbeing (Smith and Parker, 2015). From the perspective of clients, it is important to note that the priority of nurses is always the wellbeing of the patient. For this reason, a nurse must engage in behaviors that promote the best interests of the patient while at the same time ensuring that the dignity of patients is sustained. To be able to play this role effectively, and ensure that no harm is occasioned to patients, nurses ought to ensure that their physical, mental, emotional as well as spiritual wellbeing is safeguarded. This can only be possible through effective self-care. This is more so the case given that nurse exposure to stress, for instance, as a consequence of emotional high and lows could be determinately to patient safety (Smith and Parker, 2015).
4. The relationship between today’s healthcare work environments (systems) and the need for healthy self-care practices on the part of nurses
Today, nurses work in a more dynamic, complex, and challenging healthcare work environment than was the case a few decades ago. Some of the more unique challenges in a contemporary healthcare environment include, but they are not limited to, staff shortages, regional differences in compensation despite the uniformly increasing cost of living, long working hours, and increasing instances of workplace violence (from both coworkers and patients). This effectively means that nursing continues to be a challenging and rather intense profession. Nurses are, thus, constantly exposed to situations that could negatively impact their emotional, physical, as well as psychological health and wellbeing. In the words of Jackson (2004), “nurses need to be comfortable with their role as healer, which is constant over time and will apply to any environment in which they might work” (201). Towards this end, nurses ought to first promote their own healing due to their exposure to the challenges of today’s workplace – which effectively restates the need for healthy self-care practices on the part of nurses.
B. Action Plan for Reflective Self-Care in Your Nursing Practice
a) Goals / objectives for personal and healthy self-action
1. Healthy self-care actions/behaviors
· Make some time for fun by dedicating one day each week to the pursuit of one of my interests (i.e. dancing, hiking, or fishing).
· Engage in aerobic exercises at least three times a week.
2. Rationale for objectives
In a clinical setting, there is often no time to have a good laugh or engage in some of the activities that we really love to undertake during our free time. From my own personal experiences, engaging in activities that really excite me tends to have a therapeutic effect on my wellbeing especially when I am stressed up. I intend to serve my role effectively as a nurse by ensuring that I enable persons and communities to attain an optimal state of wellbeing. For this reason, I must not permit the normal stresses of the workplace to burn me out. Dedicating one day each week to the pursuit of one of my interests is likely to have a rejuvenating effect on me.
On the other hand, engaging in aerobic exercises at least three times a week is likely to preserve my physical wellbeing. This is more so the case given that as Bird, Smith, and James (1998) point out, “participation in aerobic forms of exercise is associated with the promotion of good health and a reduction in the risk of certain diseases” (150). To be able to execute my duties as a nurse effectively, I ought to be able in good physical heath. That way, I can actively participate in the maintenance and promotion of other people’s health and wellbeing.
b) Share your hopes / goals for your baccalaureate nursing practice that includes
1. Ideas integrating reflective nursing practice
I tend to be a rather emotional person. This is to say that in addition to being passionate about my engagements, I also tend to be quite temperamental and could, for instance, be easily put off by another person’s unreasonable behavior. Towards this end, I fully recognize the need to develop emotional intelligence so that I can better manage my emotions. This is more so the case given that in a healthcare environment, one is constantly exposed to the volatile sensitivities and sentiments of colleagues, patients, and their family members.
2. Ideas about working in nursing and healthcare teams within a system
The relevance of teamwork cannot be overstated in the healthcare setting. The health and wellbeing of patients is promoted when healthcare personnel engage in collaborative efforts. I tend to function well as part of a team. However, I need to further enhance my communication and persuasive skills so as to play an effective role in task-focused teams.
References
Bird, S.R., Smith, A. & James, K. (1998). Exercise Benefits and Prescription. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
Crane, P.J. & Ward, S.F. (2016). Self-Healing and Self-Care for Nurses. AORN Journal, 104(5), 387-397.
Jackson, C. (2004). Healing Ourselves, Healing Others: Third in a Series. Holistic Nursing Practice, 18(4), 199-210.
Smith, M.C. & Parker, M.E. (2015). Nursing Theories and Nursing Practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.