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?
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Responses
Elena H.
Moderator Pick
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…
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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.
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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.
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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…
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