The pandemic has wrought incredible stress on nurses. We want to learn from you how nursing schools and nurse residency programs can better prepare nurses in the future.
As a nursing student: What strategies for resilience got you through the pandemic? How do you expect them to help you as a nurse? What do you believe is the most valuable and usable skill/practice/method/ you have learned?
As a nurse: What lessons from nursing school served you best during this healthcare crisis? What gaps exist from the challenges you faced versus what you learned in nursing school?
As an educator: What are the life/work lessons of resilience you feel are most important to share with your students/new nurses? How do you do that? What do you think are the gaps between what you teach and what nurses need to face the challenges they will confront?
Responses

Resilience is not enough anymore - or maybe mine is just wearing thin
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was one of the more vocal community members. I gathered other crafty friends and began a mask making initiative, read and shared articles from reliable sources, and was tentatively hopeful about the pandemic’s ability to unite what was an increasingly divided community. That is how I managed my stress then, and as I make masks for the sanitation workers around town, that is how I manage my stress now.
I did not expect the politicization amongst the community to bleed into my workplace. I never expected to be treating…
Resiliency Looks Different
I imagine that resiliency in nursing looks different for each of us and look forward to reading other posts on this topic.
How I manage stress? Running and prayer. I also keep to a schedule which helps me keep stress and what I have to accomplish each day to a manageable level. Using a perspective of gratitude in all things is helpful for me too.
How do I meet challenges I face everyday? I begin with prayer. I am also quick to reach out for help and ask questions.
Students Inspire Me
Every day I go to work to help nursing students have wonderful experiences and become the kind of nurse that they daydream of becoming. Students often have stories of a nurse they met who cared for them or a family member, and they remember something about the care they received that was tender and helpful.
Every nurse wants to become the best nurse they can possibly be, and I find it intensely meaningful to work with students as they prepare themselves in ways they never imagined.
What keeps me grounded?
Taking the time to go outside for a walk in the woods and notice the simple things keeps me grounded. Whether it is something I see or feel, I take it in and take time to be aware of it.
Yesterday, I watched a maple leaf fall from a tree. I am not sure why it caught my attention, whether it was the colors (red/orange/yellow) or its journey. This leaf was rather large and I was able to watch it spin counterclockwise all the way to the ground and land stem first. It made a distinct sound…