Something Powerful

Tell The Reader More

The headline and subheader tells us what you're offering, and the form header closes the deal. Over here you can explain why your offer is so great it's worth filling out a form for.

Remember:

  • Bullets are great
  • For spelling out benefits and
  • Turning visitors into leads.

DiversityNursing Blog

Support Programs To Help Nurses Deal With Stress

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Thu, Jan 30, 2020 @ 02:46 PM

supportIn order for a healthcare system to be successful in having high engagement, job satisfaction and retention, the Nursing workforce should be able to combat the stressors of the job and burnout.

Nurses can better accomplish this by having help from peer support groups and mindfulness programs.

According to a report from the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), between 35% and 54% of Nurses and Doctors experience burnout. Among medical students and residents, it is as high as 60%.

Symptoms, the NAM report said, include emotional exhaustion, cynicism, loss of enthusiasm and joy in their work and increasing detachment from their patients and the patients’ ailments. The problem has been linked to higher rates of depression, substance abuse and suicide.

Many institutions are implementing stress management and self-care programs to provide caregivers with easy-to-use tools and resources to build their resilience and help them cope.

The Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi implemented a new mindfulness program known as the ‘Compassionate Intension Program.’ The sessions introduce caregivers to mindfulness as a wellness tool they can utilize in both their workplace and personal lives. Currently, there are three sessions in place:

  • In Tune Tuesdays: Held biweekly, ‘In Tune Tuesdays’ are 20-minute classes designed to further educate attendees on mindfulness and how to improve mindfulness in their work environment. The classes are held at three different times to accommodate caregiver schedules.
  • Mindfulness Rounding: Also a biweekly activity, ‘Mindfulness Rounding’ features a team of mindfulness experts who visit clinical units. The experts conduct learning huddles and one-on-one conversations with caregivers, sharing quick tips. Their pocket cards or guides offer information on easy-to-implement mindfulness techniques.
  • Introduction to Mindfulness Workshop: This 8-week workshop, featuring 1-hour weekly sessions, was developed around the evidence-based standards of mindfulness experts, including, Jon Kabit-Zinn, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Center for Mindfulness, and Richard Davidson, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Healthy Minds and Oxford University’s Mindfulness Center. It offers a deeper dive into various mindfulness techniques.

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Pediatric Nurse, Cheryl Connors, RN, MS, created a peer program to provide immediate support for health providers affected by stressful cases.

The Resilience in Stressful Events (RISE) program was developed with a Pediatric Chaplain, a Patient Safety Director, a Doctoral Student, and General Internist Albert Wu, MD, FACP.

According to the American College of Physicians, the RISE program provides a team of 39 peer responders who volunteer their time to support those who call the service. RISE team members include Nurses, Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, Respiratory Therapists, Pastoral Caregivers, and Social Workers. They undergo didactic, video-based, and role-playing training.

The team has been called by more than 700 Johns Hopkins employees. The hospital previously had a program offering free professional counseling but, Ms. Connors said, “They actually prefer somebody who knows what they're going through—another health caregiver who can relate—and when they need it, not a week later.”

As supporters of patients and their families, Nurses deal with a lot of stress. Health systems can help their Nurses by surrounding them with support and offering them the tools to overcome and cope with stress so they can provide the best care for their patients and for themselves.

New Call-to-action

Topics: peer support, burnout, self-care, mindfulness, managing stress, stressed nurses, support programs, nursing is stressful, nurse retention, stress management

Peer Support Lowers Distress in Transgender People, Nursing-Led Study Finds

Posted by Alycia Sullivan

Thu, Mar 28, 2013 @ 03:21 PM

A national study of transgender people finds peer support, family support and pride in transgender identity, are among the protective factors for the clinical depression and anxiety often experienced by this population.

The national online study shows transgender individuals experience particularly high rates of psychological distress associated with the social stigma attached to their gender nonconformity.

The study is published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

"While peer support has generally been encouraged in clinical work, what has not been demonstrated until now is that it can actually make an important difference by buffering the impact of discrimination on mental health related to being transgender," said Walter O. Bockting, PhD, lead author of the study, and a Professor at Columbia University School of Nursing and the College of Physicians and Surgeons.  

Bockting is also co-director of the newly established LGBT Health Initiative in the Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health at New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.

The study demonstrates individuals' mental health distress was associated with stigma.

Among the 1093 transgender individuals whose data was analyzed:

  • 44.1% rated high on depression;
  • 33.2% rated high on anxiety; and
  • 27.5% on somatization, i.e., physical symptoms with a psychological cause.

The researchers found that, as they had hypothesized, "family support, peer support, and identity pride all were negatively associated with psychological distress, confirming these assets are protective factors."

"This provides the first empirical basis for clinicians to encourage peer support, and for social service and health organizations to provide avenues for peer support, such as offline or online support groups and group therapy," Bockting says. 

"In addition, interventions, advocacy and public policy initiatives are needed to confront social structures, norms and attitudes that produce stress associated with stigma, prejudice and discrimination so that the high rates of psychological distress found among transgender populations can be reduced." 

For more information, visit: www.nursing.columbia.edu.

Source: Advance for Nursing

Topics: transgender, nurse-led study, clinical depression, anxiety, peer support, lower distress

Recent Jobs

Article or Blog Submissions

If you are interested in submitting content for our Blog, please ensure it fits the criteria below:
  • Relevant information for Nurses
  • Does NOT promote a product
  • Informative about Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Competence

Agreement to publish on our DiversityNursing.com Blog is at our sole discretion.

Thank you

Subscribe to Email our eNewsletter

Recent Posts

Posts by Topic

see all