In the work environment of hospitals and other healthcare facilities, nurses, to a large extent, provide a significant contribution to healthcare provision. They are a fundamental component of healthcare provision due to the significant time they spend with their patients. Tending to patient needs with compassion and care is part of the job description of nurses. The work can be both physically and mentally demanding to the nurses, even with enhanced working environments. The quality of healthcare provision is dependent on the competence and wellness of healthcare providers, which makes it critical for their wellness to be prioritized (Xie et al., 2021). It is paramount that nurses are encouraged to practice self-care not only for personal benefit but to ensure that they practice a sustainable healthcare provision system. This paper will provide an in-depth analysis of the benefits attained by the entire healthcare ecosystem by encouraging nurses to practice self-care.
The overall personal and professional lives of nurses are improved by implementing self-care practices (Urick, Carpenter & Eckert, 2021). Self-care interventions cut across a variety of aspects of the wellbeing of nurses, including physical, emotional and mental wellness. When healthcare facilities provide nurses with the necessary tools to manage burnout and stress, it will facilitate nurses’ use of the tools to achieve and maintain their holistic health. Interventions may range from regular exercise, giving breaks for relaxing or engaging in hobbies, to providing psychological therapy facilities for nurses within the institutions (Hossain & Clatty, 2021). By providing these interventions, nurses will be better suited to navigate through the demanding day-to-day activities of being a nurse. On a personal level, nurses will have balanced professional and personal lives, which will result in better satisfaction in doing their work.
There is a direct relationship between the wellbeing of nurses and the quality of healthcare services provided in the healthcare facility (Hellqvist, 2021). The ability of nurses to provide compassionate and attentive care decreases when they are both physically and emotionally fatigued. On the other hand, nurses who prioritize and practice self-care are better equipped to provide consistent quality healthcare services. It is important to note that nurses offer a service in which the quality of the service is dependent on the state and competence of the service provider. Investing in self-care interventions for nurses by healthcare facilities is also an investment in improving patient outcomes. Looking at it from this perspective, investing in self-care interventions not only benefits nurses but also acts as a strategic investment in improving patient satisfaction.
To create a sustainable healthcare facility ecosystem, it is important to invest in interventions that improve the holistic wellness of nurses (Andrews, Tierney & Seers, 2020). The healthcare system comprises different professionals working together to improve patient outcomes. Nurses are significant players in the ecosystem, and their contribution is crucial in attaining the desired goal. Self-care practices for nurses result in a more resilient nursing workforce. Nurses will be better adapted to handling the demanding challenges of their profession. Not only do nurses cope better with regular, predictable challenges, but they also adapt better to dealing with unpredictable cases. In the long run, healthcare facilities will significantly reduce the rate of turnover by promoting a supportive work environment. Nurses will have a feeling of belonging and be happy to be part of a team that values them and their needs.
Generally, healthcare facilities must encourage self-care practices in their nursing staff. Nursing engages with the challenges of a work environment that is demanding both physically and psychologically. The demands of work might affect the overall wellbeing of nurses. Self-care interventions improve the wellbeing of nurses by improving their balance between their personal and professional lives. Burnouts and work-related stress affect the lives of nurses at work and in their personal lives. The wellbeing of nurses directly affects their productivity. Nurses, as a significant part of healthcare professionals in healthcare facilities, should be encouraged to practice self-care, which will improve their overall productivity in service delivery. To achieve a sustainable healthcare ecosystem, the working environment must be improved, which will contribute to the overall improvement of patient outcomes. The potential benefits of nurses’ self-care practices are solely dependent on the ability of healthcare facilities to implement self-care practices for their nursing staff.
References
Andrews, H., Tierney, S., & Seers, K. (2020). Needing permission: The experience of self-care and self-compassion in nursing: A constructivist grounded theory study. International journal of nursing studies, 101, 103436. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020748919302433
Hellqvist, C. (2021). Promoting self-care in nursing encounters with persons affected by long-term conditions—a proposed model to guide clinical care. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2223. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2223
Hossain, F., & Clatty, A. (2021). Self-care strategies in response to nurses’ moral injury during COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing ethics, 28(1), 23-32. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0969733020961825
Urick, A., Carpenter, B. W., & Eckert, J. (2021, March). Confronting COVID: Crisis leadership, turbulence, and self-care. In Frontiers in education (Vol. 6, p. 642861). Frontiers Media SA. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.642861/full
Xie, W., Chen, L., Feng, F., Okoli, C. T., Tang, P., Zeng, L., … & Wang, J. (2021). The prevalence of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International journal of nursing studies, 120, 103973. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020748921001188
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