The 5 Domains of Self-Care

Self Care is at the same time a popular and heated topic. Most nurses would agree that they need to do a better job of caring for themselves. Yet, most do a terrible job with it. Sure, there are some who take great care of their bodies. I’ve worked with some seriously fit nurses. Yet, some of those have serious mental health issues. Others have relationships that are falling apart.

The point is that self-care is multi-faceted.

What is self-care?

This is a golden question. When I asked nurses on TikTok about their biggest barriers to self-care one of the top 10 was knowledge. Some went so far as to say that they didn’t even know what self-care is.

So, what is self-care?

Well, self-care is basically, caring for yourself. However, it’s a bit more complex than that. Why, because humans are more complex than that. For some self-care means physical things like eating right and exercising. For others, it’s about trips to the beach or a night out with friends. These are all good things, but they are incomplete. So, yes, self-care means taking care of yourself. But, what does that mean? What does it look like in your day-to-day life?

The 5 Domains of Self-Care

As I’ve worked to try to answer this question, I’ve come to identify 5 different areas of our lives that I believe work together to make for a healthier, happier life. I call these the 5 Domains of Self-Care. While each of these domains is unique and separate, they overlap in such a way that none of them can be ignored.

Certainly, there are times when one may be more urgent than others, but that doesn’t mean it’s more important. If you’re markedly overweight, then physical health may be the most urgent domain for you. If you’re struggling with depression or anxiety, then mental health may be most urgent. If you are struggling to pay your bills each month, then financial health may be the most urgent. I think you get the idea.

So, what are the 5 Domains of Self-Care?

Here they are. Remember that the order they are listed is not an order of importance. Honestly, it’s just the order that I manage to remember them in.

• Physical Health
• Mental Health
• Spiritual Health
• Relational Health
• Financial Health

As I said before, all of these overlap in very real ways. Anyone who doesn’t think that finances can’t affect mental health has never been broke. Anyone who doesn’t think that physical health can affect mental health has probably never been overweight, out of shape, or seriously ill. You see how they overlap?

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