Health Coaching Intervention to Increase Nursing Student Resilience, Self-Compassion, and Well-Being
Other Titles
Increasing Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Resilience, Self-Compassion, and Well-Being through Health and Wellness Coaching [Title Slide]
Abstract
There is a nursing shortage in the United States, with worsening projections over the next ten years. Reasons for the shortage are multifactorial and include both individual and institutional causes. A majority of nurses express feelings of stress, fatigue, and frustration which contribute to burnout and leaving the profession, worsening an already pressing problem. Nursing students are entering a complex healthcare field that they may be unprepared for. They experience stressors in school that may even prevent them from completing school and entering the profession. Seeing the need to address this issue while students are in the throes of their nursing studies, a health and wellness coaching option for students was implemented as a component of a second semester nursing clinical course. Health and wellness coaching is an intervention that uses evidence-based practices to promote positive change and support participant well-being. Over the last several years offering health and wellness coaching to second semester nursing students, surveys demonstrate satisfaction with coaching. A one-time, lump sum donation to the School of Nursing has provided a mechanism for students to continue coaching beyond the second semester should they desire to do so. The current research study quantitatively assess the effect of health and wellness coaching on participants’ well-being, resilience, and self-compassion as well as determining if there is a dose-related effect, i.e., does more health coaching improve those measures? The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a health and wellness coaching intervention on the resilience, well-being, and self-compassion of undergraduate nursing students. The question for this research is: Does participating in health and wellness coaching increase resilience, well-being, and self-compassion for baccalaureate nursing students? The overall aim of this initial research study is to improve resilience, well-being, and self-compassion in undergraduate nursing students. Future studies will include following undergraduate students into the nursing workforce and expanding the research to include graduate nursing students with the overarching goal of preventing/reducing nurse burnout and nurses leaving the profession.
Notes
References:
1. Aboalshamat, K., Al-Zaidi, D., Jawa, D., Al-Harbi, H., Alharbi, R., & Al-Otaibi, S. (2020). The effect of life coaching on psychological distress among dental students: interventional study. BMC Psychology, 8(1). 6 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00475-5
2. Altunkurek, S. Z. (2021). The effect of online wellness coaching for nursing students during the COVID-19 lockdown on well-being: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 23(4), 577-588–588. https://doi.org/10.32604/IJMHP.2021.017492
3. Bleck, J., DeBate, R., Garcia, J., & Gatto, A. (2022). A Pilot Evaluation of a University Health and Wellness Coaching Program for College Students. Health Education and Behavior, original manuscript, p. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981221131267.
4. Cuccia, A. F., Peterson, C., Melnyk, B. M. & Boston-Leary, K. (2022). Trends in mental health indicators among nurses participating in Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation from 2017-2021. Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing, 00, p. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12601.
5. Fung, S. (2020). Validity of the Brief Resilience Scale and Brief Resilient Coping Scale in a Chinese sample. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1265), p. 1-9. Doi:10.3390/ijerph17041265
6. Lara-Cabrera, M. L., Betancort, M., Muñoz-Rubilar, A., Rodríguez-Novo, N., Bjerkeset. O., & De Las Cuevas, C. (2022). Psychometric properties of the WHO-5 Well-Being Index among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study in three countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, p. 1-13. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191610106.
7. National Academy of Medicine. (2022). National plan for health workforce well-being. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26744.
8. National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (2023). “What is a board-certified health coach?” Retrieved from https://nbhwc.org/what-is-a-health-coach/, August 8, 2023.
9. Raes, F. (2011). The effect of self-compassion on the development of depression symptoms in a non-clinical sample. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2, 33–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-011-0040-y
10. Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The Brief Resilience Scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, p. 194-200. DOI:10.1080/10705500802222972
11. Stubin, C. A., Ruth-Sahd, L., & Dahan, T. A. (2023). Promoting nursing student mental health wellness: The impact of resilience-building and faculty support. Nurse Educator, 00(0), p. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001535
12. Tating, D. L. R. P., Tamayo, R. L. J., Melendres, J. C. N., Chin, I. K., Gilo, E. L., & Nassereddine, G. (2022). Effectiveness of interventions for academic burnout among nursing students: A systematic review. Worldviews on evidence-based nursing. Sigma Theta Tau. p. 153-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12628
13.Wei, H., Dorn, A., Hutto, H., Webb Corbett, R., Haberstroh, A., & Larson, K. (2021). Impacts of nursing student burnout psychological well-being and academic achievement. Journal of Nursing Education, 60(7), p. 369-376. doi:10.3928/01484834-20210616-02
14. Zheng, Y. X., Jiao, J. R., & Hao, W. N. (2022). Prevalence of stress among nursing students: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore), 101(31), p. 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000029293
Sigma Membership
Xi Alpha at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Coaching, Stress and Coping, Transition to Practice or Onboarding
Recommended Citation
Creighton, Yvonne and Lee, Deborah, "Health Coaching Intervention to Increase Nursing Student Resilience, Self-Compassion, and Well-Being" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 122.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/122
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, 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
Health Coaching Intervention to Increase Nursing Student Resilience, Self-Compassion, and Well-Being
Seattle, Washington, USA
There is a nursing shortage in the United States, with worsening projections over the next ten years. Reasons for the shortage are multifactorial and include both individual and institutional causes. A majority of nurses express feelings of stress, fatigue, and frustration which contribute to burnout and leaving the profession, worsening an already pressing problem. Nursing students are entering a complex healthcare field that they may be unprepared for. They experience stressors in school that may even prevent them from completing school and entering the profession. Seeing the need to address this issue while students are in the throes of their nursing studies, a health and wellness coaching option for students was implemented as a component of a second semester nursing clinical course. Health and wellness coaching is an intervention that uses evidence-based practices to promote positive change and support participant well-being. Over the last several years offering health and wellness coaching to second semester nursing students, surveys demonstrate satisfaction with coaching. A one-time, lump sum donation to the School of Nursing has provided a mechanism for students to continue coaching beyond the second semester should they desire to do so. The current research study quantitatively assess the effect of health and wellness coaching on participants’ well-being, resilience, and self-compassion as well as determining if there is a dose-related effect, i.e., does more health coaching improve those measures? The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a health and wellness coaching intervention on the resilience, well-being, and self-compassion of undergraduate nursing students. The question for this research is: Does participating in health and wellness coaching increase resilience, well-being, and self-compassion for baccalaureate nursing students? The overall aim of this initial research study is to improve resilience, well-being, and self-compassion in undergraduate nursing students. Future studies will include following undergraduate students into the nursing workforce and expanding the research to include graduate nursing students with the overarching goal of preventing/reducing nurse burnout and nurses leaving the profession.
Description
Nursing students experience stressors that can impact their ability to cope and perseverance in their studies. Entering the nursing profession without stress resilience, self-care, and self-compassion skills contributes to nurses leaving their job or the nursing profession. The authors describe a health coaching intervention and study of nursing students to improve their well-being, resilience, and self-compassion with an overarching goal of preventing student attrition and nurse burnout.