Abstract
Burnout and nurses leaving bedside practice have become critical contributors to the nursing shortage (Weston, 2022). In alignment with Chapter 10 of The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 (2021), which addresses workforce well-being, healthcare leaders have begun to demonstrate an intentional focus on improving nurse well-being and resilience. Recent evidence suggests that waiting to begin well-being training until nurses are in practice is too late (NWAA, 2023). This is supported in Domain 10 of The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021), which ensures that students are competent in self-care and well-being. The purpose of this study is to understand the current self-care and well-being practices of nursing students and to explore relationships between these practices and overall well-being.
This cross-sectional study, guided by the Nurse Well-Being Model (Patrician et al., 2022), included nursing students responding to three surveys available through Qualtrics. Each student received an e-mail on behalf of the members of the research team explaining the purpose of the study and the instructions for participating. A weekly reminder e-mail was sent after data collection began until the end of the fall 2023 academic term.
The sample n=158 was majority white (n=127, 80.4%), female (n=141, 89.2%), and reported maintaining employment outside of nursing school (n=129, 81.6%). Participation in the study included fair representation from both the graduate and undergraduate programs (61.4% and 38.6%, respectively).
When asked if students believed their personal self-care was a priority, 78.5% responded affirmatively; however, a striking 65.2% of students reported very rarely to sometimes engaging in activities specifically for personal wellness. Nearly half of the respondents in this study (52.2%) indicated that they would be interested in a student-centered program to enhance well-being.
Although most participants identifed well-being as a priority, there were common barriers that interfered with regular practice, including time, competing priorities, and academic pursuits. Integrative programs weaved into existing infrastructure may present future opportunities to further develop self-care and well-being competencies in nursing students.
Improving the well-being of our nurses is critical. Beginning this work while students are still within their academic preparation is an innovative strategy to boost the resilience of future nurses.
Notes
References: American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. Accessible online at https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
National Wellness Action Alliance (NWAA). (2023). Faculty toolkit: Strategies to support well-being for health sciences students. Retrieved from: https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/8/57741/files/2023/04/FacultyWellnessToolkit-NWAA.pdf
Patrician, P. A., Bakerjian, D., Billings, R., Chenot, T., Hooper, V., Johnson, C. S., & Sables-Baus, S. (2022). Nurse well-being: A concept analysis. Nursing Outlook, 70(4), 639–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2022.03.014
Wakefield, M. K., Williams, D. R., Menestrel, S. L., & Flaubert, J. L. (Eds.). (2021). The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982
Weston, M. J. (2022). Strategic planning for a very different nursing workforce. Nurse Leader. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2021.12.021
Sigma Membership
Epsilon Eta at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Workforce, Transition to Practice, Onboarding, Stress and Coping
Recommended Citation
McGuire, Kelley and Compton-McBride, Sheri L., "Exploring Nursing Students' Strategies to Promote Self-Care and Well-Being" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 58.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/58
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
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.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Exploring Nursing Students' Strategies to Promote Self-Care and Well-Being
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Burnout and nurses leaving bedside practice have become critical contributors to the nursing shortage (Weston, 2022). In alignment with Chapter 10 of The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 (2021), which addresses workforce well-being, healthcare leaders have begun to demonstrate an intentional focus on improving nurse well-being and resilience. Recent evidence suggests that waiting to begin well-being training until nurses are in practice is too late (NWAA, 2023). This is supported in Domain 10 of The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021), which ensures that students are competent in self-care and well-being. The purpose of this study is to understand the current self-care and well-being practices of nursing students and to explore relationships between these practices and overall well-being.
This cross-sectional study, guided by the Nurse Well-Being Model (Patrician et al., 2022), included nursing students responding to three surveys available through Qualtrics. Each student received an e-mail on behalf of the members of the research team explaining the purpose of the study and the instructions for participating. A weekly reminder e-mail was sent after data collection began until the end of the fall 2023 academic term.
The sample n=158 was majority white (n=127, 80.4%), female (n=141, 89.2%), and reported maintaining employment outside of nursing school (n=129, 81.6%). Participation in the study included fair representation from both the graduate and undergraduate programs (61.4% and 38.6%, respectively).
When asked if students believed their personal self-care was a priority, 78.5% responded affirmatively; however, a striking 65.2% of students reported very rarely to sometimes engaging in activities specifically for personal wellness. Nearly half of the respondents in this study (52.2%) indicated that they would be interested in a student-centered program to enhance well-being.
Although most participants identifed well-being as a priority, there were common barriers that interfered with regular practice, including time, competing priorities, and academic pursuits. Integrative programs weaved into existing infrastructure may present future opportunities to further develop self-care and well-being competencies in nursing students.
Improving the well-being of our nurses is critical. Beginning this work while students are still within their academic preparation is an innovative strategy to boost the resilience of future nurses.
Description
Athletes are taught to "practice like they play." We believe that the same philosophy is true for nursing students. Developing self-care and well-being competencies in novice nurses before they enter practice will help bolster their ability to respond to and overcome the challenges inherent to the first two years of nursing practice. By understanding students' current practices, this study sets the groundwork for developing integrated health and well-being programs to enhance nursing curricula.