The public has heard the warning many times in recent years, even decades, and perhaps never so loudly as during the COVID pandemic: “The people who so compassionately care for others are in dire need of care themselves.”
That’s what the co-authors say in their new book, “Self-Care for New and Student Nurses,” where they offer sage advice to nurses that is applicable at all stages of their careers, not just the beginning. New nurses, however, are most vulnerable to burnout during their first three years of practice.
The two co-authors from the University of Virginia School of Nursing – former dean Dorrie Fontaine and associate professor Natalie May – and former faculty member Tim Cunningham (now vice president of practice and innovation at Emory Healthcare) write in the book’s introduction that “Self-care remains an imperative for nurses and other health-care professionals as burnout, high attrition rates, emotional fatigue, and moral distress loom large over us, especially in the age of COVID-19.”
All three have been teaching nursing students for many years and decided before the pandemic that a book focusing on self-care for nurses, particularly novice ones and students, would be a great service to the profession, Fontaine wrote in email. They enlisted other professionals to cover different aspects of preventing burnout and nurturing resilience and compassionate care for oneself as well as others.
The book includes contributions from 17 UVA faculty, staff, students and alumni, with essays written by nurses at the bedside bringing the realities of COVID-19 home. Topics for nurses at all levels range from what it means to lead teams with “grit and grace” and a focus on needed systemic changes in hospitals to the benefits of practices such as t’ai chi and an LGBTQ focus on inclusion.
They wanted to affirm that there are solutions. “It’s not all doom and gloom,” Fontaine said. “Why not prevent it before burnout takes a hold in the new clinicians and teach the concepts of well-being and resilience in nursing schools?”
For those on the job, three UVA nurses who are also feeling today’s stresses, created “a resiliency toolkit” to give nurses a virtual break and ways to calm down.
Fontaine and May answered a few questions for UVA Today about the burnout problem and learning “self-care superpowers” to build a foundation of well-being in professional and personal life.
Q. What is the environment for nurses right now?
Fontaine: As a very positive and optimistic person, I am worried about the nurses all over the U.S. who are dealing with unceasing workloads, poor and intolerable staffing, and feeling worn out with no end in sight. The data right now from the Southern states is alarming, with 60% vacancies [in nursing positions] and nowhere to turn. This is the worst I have ever seen in my four decades.
