NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: John Fernandez Your Buddy: Rebecca Hitchcock

At the close of 8 weeks, complete the survey at the end of the self care journal and upload entire document to
N478 dropbox no later than Weds Nov 22nd by 5PM.

Insert your Self Care Journal into the Education area of your E-Portfolio, and at final eval appt w faculty, plan
to share what you have learned about taking care of yourself based on your entries in your self-care journal.

Select an evidence-based recommendation to follow for 8 weeks:

Sleep at least 7 hours per night before and after a work or school day
Practice mindfulness meditation for at least 10 minutes everyday
Complete at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, such as biking under 9
mph, dancing, jogging, or playing tennis; or complete 60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week,
such as running, kickboxing, or jumping rope.
Participate in two professionally led yoga classes for one hour or longer per week
Spend up to 2 hrs in nature or longer per week

Complete Weekly journal entries:

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
1
9/18 Practiced mindfulness meditation at home (10 min)
9/18- 9/19 Practiced mindfulness meditation at St. Johns Catholic Church after work. (20 min)
9/24 9/20-9/23 Practiced mindfulness meditation at home (10 min)
9/24 Practiced mindfulness meditation after mass at Santa Cruz Parish. (15 min)

Comments on Activity:
I try to make mindfulness meditation a very central part to my prayer life. I draw my daily strength and
vigor from the Lord, and I believe its in true silence of the mind and heart that the Lord speaks most
clearly to us. Im taking college algebra online through PCC to finish my last requirement for
graduation, and assignments for NURS 473 have really begun to pile on. I have about 5 hours of
assignments every day from PCC, and Im approaching crunch time to get things done. Because of this,
its really hard for me to make time to sit down in silence to replenish my heart.

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

2
9/25-9/30 Practiced mindfulness meditation at home (20 min)
9/25- 10/1 Practiced mindfulness meditation at St. Johns Parish after work. (20 min)
10/1
Comments on Activity:
Its been extremely tough trying to study for the NURS 473 test, complete the teaching project power
point, CAP PHN project, implement the community education project, finish the group CAP report, and
make up an extra day of public health clinicals because a VA training for my preceptorship eats into my
hours, complete all the homework and quizzes I need for college algebra, study for my college algebra
test, and then work an 8 hour shift as an NA at the VA. It feels like I have so much to do with no time
to do it all properly. Staying close to the Lord in prayer and in the silence of meditation is what drives
me to keep going. In the Lord I know that it will all get done, and I just have to focus on the present
M OC Fall 2017
 moment and the tasks at hand which come against me. Keeping close to prayer and mindfulness is
helping me to stay grounded. I dont get anxious or fearful over the future because Im not looking at
the big picture. Mindfulness helps me to break big tasks down into smaller ones.

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation) (How THEY are doing

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

3
10/2-10/8 Practiced mindfulness meditation at home. (15 min)
10/2
10/8
Comments on Activity:
I had finally finished everything I needed to leading up to last week. This week was nice because I got
to relax for a few days and then start my preceptorship. Practicing mindfulness helped me to be more
present during my leisure activities, so I was able enjoy myself more.

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

4
10/9-10/15 Practiced mindfulness meditation at St. Johns Parish after work. (20 min)
10/9-
10/15
Comments on Activity:
After ending the second week of my preceptorship, it was nice to spend time alone in church praying
and meditating. It helped me to refocus myself, and it also helped me to not worry about the blood
contamination that happened to me earlier in the day. I had to wait the whole weekend before I got the
blood test results back from the patient.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

M OC Fall 2017
 Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
5
10/16- 10/16-10/22 - Practiced mindfulness meditation at St. Johns Parish after preceptorship/work (30 min)
10/22

Comments on Activity:
Staying grounded through prayer and meditation really helped me to stay focused during my
preceptorship. I was able to compartmentalize tasks, and I was able to stay within the moment and
tackle long tasks in short amounts. This helped me to not stress as much and feel overwhelmed during
my 12-hour shifts.

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

6
10/23- 10/23-10/29 - Practiced mindfulness meditation at St. Johns Parish after preceptorship/work (20 min)
10/29

Comments on Activity:
The end of my fourth week of this preceptorship was very challenging for me. It was emotionally rough
because I was being verbally abused by a lot of patients, and the work load was so intense that I could
no longer keep up with my nurse. While problem after problem kept appearing, I just did what I could
to get through it. Practicing mindfulness at the end of each day really helped me to leave what happened
during my 12-hour shifts at the hospital without taking it home.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

7
10/30- 10/30-11/5 - Practiced mindfulness meditation at St. Johns Parish after preceptorship/work (20 min)
11/5

Comments on Activity:
As my preceptorship was ending, I thought I would be stressed out because Id be leaving a unit that I
genuinely enjoyed with people I got along with. However, practicing mindfulness daily helped me to
accept the reality of the present moment and appreciate my last few days. This meant that I was not
disappointed or excited that Id be leaving, but I just had a lot of peace with where I was right in the
moment.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

M OC Fall 2017
 Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
8
11/6- 11/6-11/12 - Practiced mindfulness meditation at home. (15 min)
11/12

Comments on Activity:
Practicing mindfulness daily this week helped me to not stress out about job applications and the
homework I had to do for my Pima math class. By being present in the moment, I was able to enjoy
e3verything that came at me as it did, and I was able to complete what I needed to complete one day at
a time.
Complete Survey Below
(Once Completed submit entire document to D2L Assignment Drop box by Due date and add to Your
Portfolio.)

Reflection on Panopto presentation and 8-week intervention:

What did these activities teach you?

Have you noticed any changes in your life since you began this intervention?

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

Comments/suggestions:

Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with these statements:
Following an evidence-based recommendation to reduce burnout was valuable to me.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
5 4 3 2 1

This 8-week intervention will help me implement preventative strategies for burnout in my career.

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 Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
5 4 3 2 1

This Panopto presentation titled: Nurse Burnout: What this is and how you can minimize it in your careers
effectively taught me how I can reduce and address nurse burnout in my career.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
5 4 3 2 1

Completing the Big Five Personality Test was helpful for exploring my risk of nurse burnout.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
1 2 3 4 5

M OC Fall 2017