Nursing "Energized" Program Promotes Healthy Habits

Nurses who are healthy and vibrant ultimately share this sense of well-being with their patients. Sometimes, however, caring for patients, working long hours and rotating shifts can result in high levels of stress. Unfortunately, when our response to stress isn't understood and managed, it can be experienced as compassion fatigue, burnout and unprocessed grief.

To help Cleveland Clinic nurses keep their stress in check and make wellness a priority, Nursing Wellness kicked off the "Energized" program during Nurses Week in May. Designed to provide nurses with the opportunity to focus on recognizing self-rejuvenation techniques, the Energized program encourages nurses to ask themselves, "What did I do to take care of myself today?"

Awareness is key
When stress is high, energy is low and the to-do list is long, our response to the experience of stress can be much different than when our physical, mental, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energy is high, explains Michelle Cameron, RN, BSN, Manager, Nursing Wellness, Nursing World Class Service. Taking care of ourselves and connecting with emotions, people and activities that energize us is the idea behind the Energized program.

"We know when we're run down and what to do to reenergize and rebalance," Cameron says, "whether it's playing with our children, exercising, drinking more water, eating better or getting more restful sleep. We want to come to work as a whole person, and we need to be in that state of balance to experience well-being."

To help create awareness of these healthy habits, the Energized program teamed up with Employee Wellness, CONCERN, Pastoral Care and the Center for Integrative Medicine to offer nurses a variety of ways to receive information and support. Methods include customized wellness services, such as smoking cessation and nutrition management programs; public information sessions on compassion fatigue, grief, time management and stress relief; and on-site information and support sessions in the nursing units, where Reiki and biofeedback wellness breaks are offered.