Abstract
Problem/Background: A 2021 study by the American Organization for Nursing Leadership reported that sustainment of staff emotional health and well-being were top priorities for 75% of the nurse leader respondents.1 Compassionate caring of others begins with loving-kindness toward self.2 Nurse leaders must practice self-care and loving-kindness for themselves and role model it as a means of empowering and promoting wellness for their staff. Holistic and integrative strategies aimed at promoting nurse leader and staff well-being consequently promote a healing environment for authentic caring presence for patients.
Purpose/SMART Aims: This project aimed to promote nurse leader wellness through the implementation of "Wellness 2 U," an integrative health wellness program. SMART Aims were to increase nurse leader perceptions of a) loving-kindness toward self (baseline=4.5); b) practicing self-care (baseline=4.3); c) trusting relationships (baseline=5.7); and d) creating a healing environment (baseline=5.1); by 5% as measured by improvements in Caring Science, Watson Caritas Self Rating Score©, by June 2023.
Methods: Lillian Wald pioneered public health nursing and brought care to the patients in their own environments. Applying this concept, the project team consisting of a nurse manager, patient safety coordinator, and nurse research scientist brought the “Wellness 2 U,” integrative health strategies to the comfort of the nursing leader’s unit or office. Wellness kits containing essential oils, stress relief balls, and immunity supplements among other items, and a flyer with QR codes to several wellness resources were distributed during August-September 2022. The project team led nurse leaders in an individualized micro-practice (e.g., Reiki, Kundalini yoga, sound bath, etc.) session while distributing the kits. The kits were designed to be used by the nurse leaders themselves and with their staff during leadership rounding as a tool to engage staff and promote wellness. REDCap online survey consisting of items from the Watson Caritas Self Rating Score Survey (1-7 scale) was used to measure nurse leader outcomes pre/post-utilization of the wellness kits. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess improvements over time.
Results/Outcomes: Loving-kindness toward self, increased to a score of 4.8 (6.7%↑) at 30 days, 5.0 (11.1%↑) at 60 days, and 5.9 (31.1%↑, p<.001) at 90 days. Practicing self-care increased to 4.9 (14.0%↑) at 30 days, 5.1 (18.6%↑, p<.05) at 60 days, and 6.2 (44.2%↑, p<.01) at 90 days. Trusting relationship with staff increased to 5.8 (1.8%↑) for both 30 and 60 days, and 6.3 (10.5%↑) at 90 days. Creating a healing environment increased to 5.7 (11.8%↑) at 30 days, 5.9 (15.7%↑, p<.01) at 60 days, and 6.0 (17.6%↑, p<.01) at 90 days.
Conclusion/Implications: Nurse leaders and staff practicing loving-kindness for themselves and others ultimately impact patient safety outcomes.3-4 The results of this project show that the nurse leader wellness kit and micro-practices are promising integrative health approaches to promote loving-kindness toward self and staff. Future directions include optimization of the “Wellness 2 U” program to increase nursing leaders’ and staff awareness and utilization of holistic integrative approaches to promote a healing environment for themselves and the patients they serve.
Notes
Presenter notes available in attached slide deck.
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Gamma Tau at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Leadership, Nursing Leaders, Compassion, Self Care, Caring, Work Experiences
Recommended Citation
Kim, Linda Y.; Khalsa, Akal; and Astasio, Jennifer, ""Wellness 2 U” Program to Promote Nurse Leaders' Loving- Kindness Toward Self and Others" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 97.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/97
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-03-03
"Wellness 2 U” Program to Promote Nurse Leaders' Loving- Kindness Toward Self and Others
Washington, DC, USA
Problem/Background: A 2021 study by the American Organization for Nursing Leadership reported that sustainment of staff emotional health and well-being were top priorities for 75% of the nurse leader respondents.1 Compassionate caring of others begins with loving-kindness toward self.2 Nurse leaders must practice self-care and loving-kindness for themselves and role model it as a means of empowering and promoting wellness for their staff. Holistic and integrative strategies aimed at promoting nurse leader and staff well-being consequently promote a healing environment for authentic caring presence for patients.
Purpose/SMART Aims: This project aimed to promote nurse leader wellness through the implementation of "Wellness 2 U," an integrative health wellness program. SMART Aims were to increase nurse leader perceptions of a) loving-kindness toward self (baseline=4.5); b) practicing self-care (baseline=4.3); c) trusting relationships (baseline=5.7); and d) creating a healing environment (baseline=5.1); by 5% as measured by improvements in Caring Science, Watson Caritas Self Rating Score©, by June 2023.
Methods: Lillian Wald pioneered public health nursing and brought care to the patients in their own environments. Applying this concept, the project team consisting of a nurse manager, patient safety coordinator, and nurse research scientist brought the “Wellness 2 U,” integrative health strategies to the comfort of the nursing leader’s unit or office. Wellness kits containing essential oils, stress relief balls, and immunity supplements among other items, and a flyer with QR codes to several wellness resources were distributed during August-September 2022. The project team led nurse leaders in an individualized micro-practice (e.g., Reiki, Kundalini yoga, sound bath, etc.) session while distributing the kits. The kits were designed to be used by the nurse leaders themselves and with their staff during leadership rounding as a tool to engage staff and promote wellness. REDCap online survey consisting of items from the Watson Caritas Self Rating Score Survey (1-7 scale) was used to measure nurse leader outcomes pre/post-utilization of the wellness kits. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess improvements over time.
Results/Outcomes: Loving-kindness toward self, increased to a score of 4.8 (6.7%↑) at 30 days, 5.0 (11.1%↑) at 60 days, and 5.9 (31.1%↑, p<.001) at 90 days. Practicing self-care increased to 4.9 (14.0%↑) at 30 days, 5.1 (18.6%↑, p<.05) at 60 days, and 6.2 (44.2%↑, p<.01) at 90 days. Trusting relationship with staff increased to 5.8 (1.8%↑) for both 30 and 60 days, and 6.3 (10.5%↑) at 90 days. Creating a healing environment increased to 5.7 (11.8%↑) at 30 days, 5.9 (15.7%↑, p<.01) at 60 days, and 6.0 (17.6%↑, p<.01) at 90 days.
Conclusion/Implications: Nurse leaders and staff practicing loving-kindness for themselves and others ultimately impact patient safety outcomes.3-4 The results of this project show that the nurse leader wellness kit and micro-practices are promising integrative health approaches to promote loving-kindness toward self and staff. Future directions include optimization of the “Wellness 2 U” program to increase nursing leaders’ and staff awareness and utilization of holistic integrative approaches to promote a healing environment for themselves and the patients they serve.
Description
Compassionate caring of others begins with loving-kindness toward self. Nurse leaders must practice self-care and loving-kindness for themselves and role model it as a means of empowering and promoting wellness for their staff. Nurse leader "Wellness 2 U" program is a promising approach to promote loving-kindness toward self and staff.