Nurse Well-Being Learning Library
Our lives and nursing careers have been anything but ordinary since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Drastically changing lifestyles provides an opportunity and in some cases a necessity to rethink your mental wellbeing strategies and add some well-being activities to your toolbox.
Take some time to assess your own well-being and identify those areas in your life that you would like to mend or prioritize activities that you already know bring you joy and promote healing. If you are not quite sure what those areas are, try a variety of these methods to see what works best for you. Use the list below to help you with ideas.
Featured Resource
Facilitating Intentional Conversations
Intentional, facilitated conversations are opportunities for healthcare staff to gather outside of patient care, meetings with agendas, or formal conferences. The ability, time, and space to connect in a way that allows speaking with intention and listening with attention supports individual and team resilience. The aims of intentional, facilitated conversations are to engage in reflection as a means to take knowledge to action and to identify resilience as a professional skill of self and teams.
Course Topics
Part I
- Facilitating Intentional Conversations Guidelines
- Review of the Intentional Conversation Process
- Sustaining Purpose Reflection Questions
- Intentional Conversations Planning
Part 2
- Intentional Conversation Debrief
Courses - NEW!
Nurses’ Stories of Spirit and Practice - NEW!
eBook and Audiobook
Reflections on Covid 19 and Cancer Care: Stories by Oncology Nurses, Volume 2
Reflections on COVID-19 and Cancer Care: Stories by Oncology Nurses
ONS Voice Articles
The ONS Voice dedicates a column to stories written by nurses. Take a look at the great stories that were published Stories: Our Spirit. Our Practice
ONS Podcasts
"Take a Minute for You" Resources
Download one or more of the following images to help you find a relaxing moment as you work through your day. Some ideas on how to utilize these posters are to hang in a central place on your unit, use them as a screensaver for your computer, or as a digital background for virtual meetings. We have included a post-it size (3x3) option if you would like to add it after your email signature or print and affix to a notebook or next to your computer screen.
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Immersive Wellness Breaks
Do you need a minute to refresh your mind and spirit? Take an immersive wellness break. These wellness breaks are short snippets of either breathing exercises or mindful escapes to help you refocus and recharge. Constant stimulation can cause our brains to lose focus. Taking a mindful break periodically will help your brain relax and start your new task with renewed energy. Take a minute to enjoy a break and return as often as you like!
Well-Being Activities
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Well-Being Activity |
Learn how to practice by reading this article |
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Practice storytelling |
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Get organized |
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| Spring cleaning | Spring Clean Your Home and Heart |
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Listen to music |
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Journal |
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Share a smile |
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Sleep |
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| Rest & unwind | Rest, Unwind and Reflect |
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Plan a vacation |
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| Taking a vacation | Checklist For a Stress-Free Vacation |
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Stretch |
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Get creative |
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Recognize your humanness |
Take These Healthy Steps to Come Back From an Unexpected Event |
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Set boundaries |
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Prioritize your time |
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Take care of your feet |
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Laugh |
Other well-being ideas:
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Yoga |
Read/Write Poetry |
Share a Laugh |
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Watch a Funny Video |
Guided Imagery |
Positive Affirmations |
Breathing Exercises |
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Storytelling |
Journaling |
Exercise |
Tai Chi |
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Intuitive Eating |
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Look at pictures of places that bring you joy |
Write down 3 things that you are grateful for |
Talk to a Loved One |
Practice Mindfulness |
Unit-based Approaches for Staff Well-Being:
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Recognize a coworker |
Unit pause after a difficult event |
Dose of resilience |
Make vision boards |
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Random acts of kindness |
Themed lunches |
Staff birthday calendar |
Neck/shoulder massages |
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Team time with the Chaplain |
Welcome bags for new grads |
Share kudos at staff meetings |
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Self-care champions |
Start and end day with a team huddle |
Gratitude tree |
Take one and leave one – positive message sticky notes |
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Mindfulness corner |
Book club |
Tea for the soul |
Team Building |
Institutional Approaches for Staff Well-Being
Learning Tools
ONS Podcasts (includes free NCPD)
- Episode 27: How Self-Care Can Impact Your Nursing Practice
- Episode 85: Nursing Resilience and Self-Care Aren’t Optional
- Episode 187: Critical Need for Well-being and Resiliency
ONS Congress Sessions
Articles
ONS Voice articles:
ONS Voice has a column dedicated to nurse well-being. For additional articles, you may search ONS Voice, by typing well-being in the search bar.
- Practice These Five Self-Care Strategies in Less Than Five Minutes
- Cope with Moral Distress by Focusing on the Possibilities
- Our Patients Give Us Peace in Unexpected Circumstances
- Use These Personal Development Strategies for Self-Improvement
- It's Okay to Put Yourself First Sometimes
- Mental Health Teams Build Programs That Prioritize Staff Well-Being
- It Takes a Team to Confront Moral Distress
- How Nurses Can Monitor and Strengthen Their Mental Health
- Here’s How You Can Confront Workplace Violence in a Healthcare Setting
- Leaders Need to Walk the Talk When It Comes to Self-Care, Too
- Harness Stress for Focus and Productivity
- Supporting Second Victims Will Make Your Practice Safer
- Turn Your Dreams into Reality
Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
You may search for additional articles in CJON at https://www.ons.org/acq-search?search=cjon
- Songs for the Soul: A Program to Address a Nurse’s Grief
- Stress Levels of Nurses in Oncology Outpatient Units
- How Does an Oncology Nurse Increase Moral Resilience During a Pandemic?
- Moral Distress: A Qualitative Study of Experiences Among Oncology Team Members
- An Inpatient Surgical Oncology Unit's Experience with Moral Distress: Part I
- An Inpatient Surgical Oncology Unit's Experience with Moral Distress: Part II
- Moral Distress: Identification Among Inpatient Oncology Nurses in an Academic Health System
- Moral Distress: Using Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Interventions to Decrease Nurse Perceptions of Distress
- Moral Distress: One Unit's Recognition and Mitigation of This Problem
Resources from the Oncology Nursing Foundation
The Oncology Nursing Foundation has developed resources to support oncology nurses in developing healthy routines, learn stress management techniques, and practice self-care. This curated content includes a Wellness Wisdom video series, breathing exercises, calming yoga offerings, and much more.
For a full list of resources, you can visit their Resiliency Resources page.
External Resources
American Nurses Foundation
University of California, Berkeley
American Psychiatric Nurses Association
American Organization for Nursing Leadership
American Nurses Association
- Well-Being Initiative
- Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation
- A Call to Action: Exploring Moral Resilience Toward a Culture of Ethical Practice
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The Emotional PPE Project
- The Emotional PPE Project connects healthcare workers in need with licensed mental health professionals who can help.
Related Topics
- Survivorship - Health Promotion & Wellness
- Nursing Roles - Nurse Well-Being
- Wellness
- Nursing Roles - Moral Distress
- Nursing Roles - Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
- Burnout
- Empathy Strain/Distress
- Nursing Roles - Intentional Conversations
- Mindfulness
- Nurse Well-Bring - Moral Distress
- Nurse Stories
- Resilience
- Stress
