A Archives - Restoring Nurses https://restoringnurses.com/tag/a/ Giving nurses the tools they need to build the careers and lives they want Sun, 05 May 2024 23:22:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://i0.wp.com/restoringnurses.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Restoring-Nurses-clear-background.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 A Archives - Restoring Nurses https://restoringnurses.com/tag/a/ 32 32 143723688 10 Top Reasons Nurses Don’t Do Self-Care https://restoringnurses.com/2024/05/06/10-top-reasons-nurse-dont-do-self-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=10-top-reasons-nurse-dont-do-self-care https://restoringnurses.com/2024/05/06/10-top-reasons-nurse-dont-do-self-care/#comments Mon, 06 May 2024 12:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=7782 Nurses know that self-care is important. Still most don't do it. Here are 10 reasons why.

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]]> Nearly every nurse would agree that self-care is good. Most would even go so far as to say that it is a necessity. Still, most of us do a terrible job with it.

Most of us are willing to admit that if we don’t do better at caring for ourselves it will, at some point, affect how we care for everyone else. And, yet we don’t do it.

Some time ago on TikTok, I asked nurses what their biggest barriers were to self-care. You can watch that video and read the responses HERE. While there was a wide range of answers, there were some common themes.

So, here are the top 10 reasons nurses don’t do self-care along with some quotes from the comments. Some of these are truly heartbreaking.

1 – Guilt

  • “Being time poor and mom guilt”
  • “Fear of letting others down”
  • “Guilt for spending more time away from my family.”
  • “Guilt. Being told I was selfish for doing anything I enjoy for me.”
  • “Guilt. Away from family so much already, I feel bad wanting more time away.”

2 – Time

  • “Definitely not enough time. Work is mind-consuming even after I leave.”
  • “Don’t have time. Work 12 hours for 7 days straight, then having to be mommy and wife, soon exhausted.”
  • “Not enough time in the day and just plain exhausted when I do have free time.”

3 – Exhaustion

  • “By the time I have a day off, my brain and body don’t work.”
  • “Exhausted with people. Want to isolate when I can.”
  • “Exhaustion sneaks up on me. Taking care of everyone else.”
  • “I am so tired and exhausted from dealing with my job. I get home and can barely eat, shower, and fall in the bed.”

4 – Depression

  • “Depression. It took me a while to make peace with the idea, but I finally got help.”
  • “Depression. I have my first therapy appointment on Wednesday.”
  • “Depression!”

5 – Money

  • “Money, hands down. I have money going to just live.”
  • “Time, money, family, juggle.”
  • “Fatigue, depression, and money.”

6 – Knowledge

  • “Not knowing where to start.”
  • “For so long I thought sleeping in on my days off, lying in bed all day was self-care.”
  • “I don’t think I know what it even means.”

7 – Prioritization

  • “I prioritize myself last, dead last”
  • “Everyone else takes priority.”
  • “Forgetting that I DESERVE to take time for me”
  • “I have been programmed, probably by myself, to put others first.”

8 – Motivation

  • “Lack of motivation, probably from a combination of depression and exhaustion”
  • “Lack of motivation.”
  • “Time, money, motivation”

9 – Laziness

  • “Laziness”
  • “Laziness” (yes, more than one person gave this exact same answer)

10 – Distractions

  • “TikTok, LOL”
  • “Carrying things on my mind that I wish I would have charted or said differently.”
  • “I think the biggest barrier is the constant feeling that I should be doing something productive.”

Do you identify with any of these quotes? I certainly do.

In the coming weeks, I’m going to address each of these items in upcoming blog posts.

In the meantime, if you are ready to take the first step towards taking back control of your life, including taking better care of YOU, my book The Restored Nurse, is a great place to start.

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]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2024/05/06/10-top-reasons-nurse-dont-do-self-care/feed/ 8 7782 Can Self-Care Make Your Life Better, as a Nurse? https://restoringnurses.com/2024/04/19/what-is-self-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-is-self-care https://restoringnurses.com/2024/04/19/what-is-self-care/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=7621 Even though we do a terrible job of it, many nurses would agree that self-care is important. So then, what is self-care?

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]]> Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about self-care. As a nurse, one thing I’ve noticed is that many of us, along with other healthcare workers, are really bad at self-care. We spend so much time caring for others, and so little caring for ourselves. I speak of nurses because I am one but this is true of a great many people. I’ve seen this in pastors and other ministry staff. I’ve seen this in both mothers and fathers. The truth is that any person can be guilty of this.

What IS self-care?

At the simplest level, self-care is taking care of yourself. Simple, right? It truly is that simple. Unfortunately, many simple things, are not easy. We could say that self-care is simply a matter of taking care of yourself, but what does that even mean? It could mean eating right and exercising, but is that all there is to it?
Some time ago, I asked the question on Facebook, “What does self-care mean to you.” Here is a sampling of the answers I received:

  • “Taking time to care for myself so that I can continue to care for others.”
  • “Going to Disney World.”
  • “Free time for me! Kidless, spouseless. NAPS!”
  • “Mind, body, and spirit.”
  • “…made of up 6 different factors: physical, social, spiritual, emotional, sensory, and intellectual.”
  • “Watching Pride and Prejudice”
  • “Feeding the mind, body, and spirit the good stuff.”
  • “Both bombs and sugar scrubs.”
  • “Sleep just sleep”
  • “Eat right! Common sense!”
  • “Diet and exercise”

As you can see self-care means a variety of different things to different people. This was just a sampling of the over 50 responses I received. While I would certainly agree that some of the things listed here are a PART of self-care, I think that there is more to it than that. A couple of the responses I thought were really good broke down self-care into different areas. One listed it as “physical, social, spiritual, emotional, sensory, and intellectual.” Another said, “mind, body, and spirit”. These are GREAT. As I’ve worked through my own journey of learning what it meant to take better care of my life, I’ve broken it down into 6 Pillars:

  • Work Health
  • Physical Health
  • Mental Health
  • Relationship Health
  • Spiritual Health
  • Financial Health

I know that this doesn’t really answer the question of what self-care is. I’ll be covering more of this in upcoming posts.

If you want to take better care of your life but are not sure where to start, download the free Restored Life Assessment.

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]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2024/04/19/what-is-self-care/feed/ 2 7621 The 5 Domains of Self-Care https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/22/the-5-domains-of-self-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-5-domains-of-self-care https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/22/the-5-domains-of-self-care/#comments Sun, 22 May 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=8124 Self-care is much more complex than a single event, habit, or even a single part of our lives. Here is an outline of the 5 Domains that make up self-care.

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]]> 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?

For a deeper look at each of the domains, use the form below to download your FREE eBook TODAY.

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]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/22/the-5-domains-of-self-care/feed/ 1 8124 The Restoring Nurses Framework https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/20/the-restoring-nurses-framework/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-restoring-nurses-framework https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/20/the-restoring-nurses-framework/#respond Fri, 20 May 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=8079 What is Restoring Nurses? What is the Restoring Nurses Framework? Here are the answers to these questions and much more

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]]>

If you follow me on TikTok, are part of our private Facebook Group, or have spent much time on this site, then you probably have some idea as to what we are about. Still, you may not have heard about the Restoring Nurses Framework. I thought I’d take some time to remind you what Restoring Nurses is all about and to introduce you to the Restoring Nurses Framework.

Who am I?

I think it might be valuable to start at the beginning. So, let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Matt Norman. I am a husband to my high school sweetheart, Kimberly, and father to our two amazing kids, Trey and Jayden. I have been a nurse since 2000 and have been a pastor for much of that time.

I started in healthcare in 1996 as a phlebotomist. After a year of doing that I transferred to the ED as a tech, having gotten certified as an EMT in 1994. After graduating from nursing school I became a staff nurse in that same ED. After a couple of years, I started doing backup charge and then became a full-time charge nurse a little later. in 2006 I entered informatics as the system admin for the new EMR we were implementing in that ED.

In 2010 I went back to the bedside, in the ED, where I stayed until 2013. I then spent a year in Interventional Radiology before moving out of state to work in full-time ministry for a year. In 2015 I returned to that ED and back to the bedside where I stayed until late 2016. At that time I left the hospital to work for 3 years in an outpatient oncology infusion center, which I loved.

While at the cancer center I began to pursue my BSN and MSN. In 2019 I had an opportunity to enter education at a local hospital. My MSN was focused on nursing education, so this was perfect. I stayed there until 2022 when I left to become a nursing professor, which is what I still do full-time.

Where Did Restoring Nurses Come From?

Throughout my career, I have been consistently impressed with nurses’ ability to care for other people. For most of this doesn’t stop when we leave work. When not at work we are caring for our family and friends, and often even serving within our communities.

However, that caring stops when it comes to caring for ourselves.

Nearly every nurse I know does a terrible job of caring for themselves. Sure, some of them are almost obsessive about physical health but struggle with mental health. Others take great care to tend to their mental health but are overweight and out of shape. Still, others may do well with both of these, but have relationships that are falling apart.

As I pursued my master’s degree I decided that I wanted to begin to do something about this. This started with my master’s capstone project where I created a course designed to teach nurses how to care for themselves. This was a fictitious course, that would never see an actual classroom, but the research and work I did were very real.

That work didn’t stop after graduating. Rather, those thoughts continued to fester in my mind. Working in the hospital I continued to see nurses pouring everything they had into caring for others and ignoring themselves. While in that job, I used my position and influence to try to mentor and encourage some nurses to take better care of themselves. That kinda satisfied this need to help nurses for a while, but it wasn’t enough.

So, when I left the hospital to begin my academic career, I knew it was time to jump into the next phase of helping nurses take better care of themselves. I knew that it was time to take it to the next level.

That’s why I started Restoring Nurses?

Why Restoring Nurses?

So, why did I call it restoring nurses? Well, if I’m completely honest, part of it came from a friend of mine who has a ministry called Restoring Leaders where he works to help ministry leaders overcome and prevent burnout. I love the work that he is doing over there and it matched so well with what I wanted to do with nurses. So, Restoring Nurses seemed like a good idea. Don’t worry, I got his blessing to steal his name. LOL

There was more to it than that. You see, I’m a big car guy. I love just about anything with wheels. I love tinkering with them, repairing them, driving them, and looking at them. Heck, I even enjoy washing them.

I’ve always been amazed by the process of restoring old cars. Someone who knows what their doing can take a car that looks destined only for the junkyard and turn it back into a thing of beauty. These cars can be made to look like new and often function even better than new. That’s what I want for nurses.

Ok, I’m not saying that nurses are like rusty old cars. However, through years of neglect from our employers and ourselves, many nurses are on the verge of leaving the profession. Many already have. I truly believe that if we can equip nurses to take better care of themselves, encourage them to do it, and empower them to get started then we can not just keep them in nursing, but get them to function as well as, or even better than, new.

My goal over the next few years is to lead 1000 nurses through the Restoring Nurses Framework and to see them not just learn how to take better care of themselves, but transform their lives by DOING IT!

What is the Restoring Nurses Framework?

When I ask people about self-care I usually get some version of what I call the 3 Bs, beaches, booze, and bubble bath. Each of them represents a different type of activity that people associate with self-care.

Beaches:

I’m not gonna lie. Beaches are one of my favorite places for self-care. I can spend an entire week sitting on the balcony overlooking the beach, listening to the waves crash and feeling them take my stress far out to sea as they wash back out. In the 3 Bs, beaches represent some sort of getaway. For some, this is going to the beach. For others, it may be going to the mountains. It can be cruising, camping, or hunting. The exact form the getaway takes is not important.

Booze:

While this one may actually include alcoholic beverages, it doesn’t have to. What it’s really about is some sort of leisure activity. This can be out-drinking with friends. This can be a dinner out with family. This can be a monthly game night. Again, the specifics don’t matter, this one just represents some leisure activity designed to let off some steam and set aside life’s stresses for a time.

Bubble Bath:

This one represents some sort of personal indulgence. This may be a bubble bath and a glass of wine for some. It may be a glass of whiskey and a fire in the backyard. It may be a trip to the spa. It may be a massage. It may be visiting the salon. As with the other two, the exact activity doesn’t matter. Any indulgence that one does to kinda refill your cup falls into this one.

The truth is that none of the 3 Bs are bad. All of the activities listed in them could be part of a quality self-care plan. However, none of them alone covers all that self-care really is. In fact, even if you include activities from each of these you will still not adequately cover your self-care needs.

That’s where the Restoring Nurses Framework comes in.

The Restoring Nurses Framework takes nurses through a system where they will learn what self-care means. From there they will spend some time preparing their mind for a fresh self-care journey. Next, it helps nurses to identify their most pressing self-care needs in each of the 5 Domains of Self Care and to identify short-term goals for tending to those needs.

Once a nurse has gone through this initial process, we help the nurse periodically evaluate where they are with each of the 5 Domains of Self Care and to set new goals based on where they are at that time. This process allows the nurse to build a lifelong plan for caring for themselves.

Within the Restoring Nurses Community members get full access to all components of the Restoring Nurses Framework. This includes a growing library of courses. It also includes a variety of other materials such as checklists, assessments, and other tools designed to help nurses progress through the framework.

Beyond the Framework

The Restoring Nurses Framework is just the first piece of the puzzle. You see all the information in the world will not make a person healthier. As nurses, we have all taken care of patients who knew exactly what they needed to do to get better, but they weren’t doing it. They could confidently outline exactly what they should be doing, yet that knowledge, by itself, got them no closer to health.

The Restoring Nurses Framework can give nurses the information they need to take better care of themselves, but it can’t make them do it. Heck, there’s really nothing we can to do MAKE nurses do what the Restoring Nurses Framework outlines. However, what we can do is offer encouragement and accountability in the form of community.

There is something powerful about journeying together with others towards a similar goal. Within the Restoring Nurses Community this happens in the form of, well, community. Members have access to forums where they can read past posts from other members as well as Restoring Nurses admins. In addition, members can ask their own questions, share lessons they have learned, share their wins, and encourage other members along their journeys.

Let’s face it, sometimes we need accountability even more than encouragement. Members in the Restoring Nurses Community can offer that for one another as well. All while maintaining a safe place to share our struggles as we all work our way through the framework.

One last thing the Restoring Nurses Community offers is coaching. This happens in a variety of ways. Regular biweekly, member-only zoom calls provide a chance for all members to ask me questions and to learn from the questions others are asking. For anyone wanting to go just that extra step further, members can also opt for one-on-one or small group coaching.

Get started

If are ready to start taking better care of yourself, then the Restoring Nurses Framework can help and the Restoring Nurses Community is the best place to access all that the Framework has to offer.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY TODAY

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]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/20/the-restoring-nurses-framework/feed/ 0 8079 Podcast Episode 2: Self-Care Can’t Fix Healthcare https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/19/self-care-cant-fix-healthcare/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=self-care-cant-fix-healthcare https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/19/self-care-cant-fix-healthcare/#respond Thu, 19 May 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=8076 Due to the current situation in healthcare, I have received some pushback in regard to self-care. I address that in this episode.

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]]> The Industry of nursing is like a house of fire. It’s just a mess. For this reason, I have received some pushback in regard to self-care. I address that in this episode.

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]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/19/self-care-cant-fix-healthcare/feed/ 0 8076 5 Ways to Leave Work at Work https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/15/5-ways-to-leave-work-at-work/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-ways-to-leave-work-at-work https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/15/5-ways-to-leave-work-at-work/#comments Sun, 15 May 2022 12:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=8043 It can be really hard to leave the junk from work at work. But, it's SO important. Here are some tips to help.

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]]> Recently I saw a post on Facebook saying that nursing was 24 hours, but that this did not mean we had to bring it home with us.  This is so true. Yet it’s not always easy. The difficulty of this was echoed by someone during a recent TikTok live session of mine. She asked, “How do you leave it at work, after all the stuff you’ve seen.”

It can be really hard to leave work at work, especially with the weight of the work we do as nurses. So, here are 10 tips for leaving work at work.

1 – Debrief

I spent most of my career working in the ER, almost 20 years worth. As you can imagine over that many years I have seen, done, and experienced things that would make just about anybody crazy. There were so many shifts that I most definitely needed to leave behind. For many of those years, I would hang out after the shift talking with the charge nurse who quickly became a friend and mentor to me.

Those post-shift conversations were huge in allowing me to leave work at work. It allowed me to unload anything that was bothering me. It allowed me to clarify anything I didn’t understand. I can’t even begin to fully explain how much these helped.

You may not need to debrief after every shift, but find a coworker and make a deal that you will be debriefing partners. Agree that if either one of you needs to debrief, then you are there for it. Then, when those shifts come that you do need to debrief from, DO IT! I don’t care how tired you are or how bad you just want to go home, do your debrief. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but this time can truly allow you to leave work at work.

2 – Don’t go home

Ok, I’m not telling you not to go home. One of the big reasons for leaving work at work is so that you can be fully, truly present with your family with you get home. So, yeah, you will have to go home at some point. But, some days you might need to put that off a little bit.

For most of my nursing career, I lived less than 10 miles from work. This meant a fairly short drive home. After some shifts that drive home simply wasn’t long enough for me to fully release from the day. On these days, it was not unusual for me to just sit in the car for a bit. It might only be 5-15 minutes, but it allowed that separation between work and home that I needed.

For me, I usually spent this time listening to music. That’s just what helped me to reset. However, this could be spent sitting in silence as well.

3 – Enjoy silence

My habit for most of my adult life has been to listen to music while I drive. Now I’m much more likely to listen to podcasts. In fact, if I’m in the car by myself, I can almost guarantee that I will be listening to a podcast. Neither of these is necessarily a bad thing.

However, there is great power in silence. For me, it can be so cleansing to turn the radio off, roll the windows down, and just ride. The sound and feel of the wind blowing through the car just seem to wash away my anxiety, anger, stress, and so much more.

4 – TURN THE MUSIC UP!

The other side of silence is LOUD. Depending on my mood silence might be the answer. At other times I just need to crank up the music, put the windows down and find a back road to get lost on while I drive home. If silence isn’t your thing, try this. Or, if the shift just calls more for loud music than silence, roll with it.

5 – Journal

I can hear some of you right now, “Journaling isn’t really my thing.” Ok, I get it. Journaling is a great tool. There is something powerful that happens when you take the time to write down your thoughts. It’s almost like the emotions connected to those thoughts kinda leave your head and land on the paper.

I’ve journaled off and on for most of my life. I love an old-fashioned composition notebook for this. However, the exact tool is not important. As powerful as pen and paper can be, there are a lot of great electronic tools these days. I use an app called DayEntry. It allows for quick entry of my thoughts, even on the go. If typing your thoughts is not your style this app also allows you to do audio recordings. It then allows you to back those entries up in a variety of ways.

Now I hear some of you saying that you don’t have time for this, especially after a long shift. Here’s the deal. This can be done in as little as 5 minutes. To help, I’ve created this 5 Minute Debrief. It asks 3 simple statements:

  • Things I did well today. Keep it brief, but take a moment to brag on yourself. Even after the most difficult shift, there will be SOMETHING you did well. Give yourself credit.
  • Things I could have done better today. These are the sort of things that we bring home with us. Take a moment to write it down, then let it go.
  • Things I need to look up before my next shift. This is another one of those things that we can bring home with us. It can keep us from sleeping. I can say that I’ve spent hours staring at the ceiling because of something I wasn’t sure about and needed to look up. You are not writing this down so that you can look it up now, or even when you get home. No! Write it down, then let it go. You do need to circle back and look this up but do that later. Right now you need to disconnect from work and go home.

You can download this free journal page HERE. Print it out, put it in a binder and keep it with you. Or, you can buy a notebook or journal and just write these three statements on the page as you journal.

Get a hug

Ok, this one’s a bonus. There is something so powerful about a hug. That connection with another human being has the power to break down any barriers we have put up to protect ourselves. You see, in order to even get that close to someone, you have to take those shields down. Who to hug is up to you. This could be a coworker, a friend, or your spouse.

This would be the one time when I would say it’s ok to carry a little bit of it home. You don’t have to tell your spouse about your day. Just tell them that you need a hug and let that hug break up the stress of the day and banish it.

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]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/15/5-ways-to-leave-work-at-work/feed/ 3 8043 Introducing the Restoring Nurses Podcast https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/12/introducing-the-restoring-nurses-podcast/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=introducing-the-restoring-nurses-podcast https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/12/introducing-the-restoring-nurses-podcast/#respond Thu, 12 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=7894 We are exciting to introduce the Restoring Nurses Podcast.

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]]> I’m excited to announce the launch of the Restoring Nurses Podcast

I love podcasts. I listen to a bunch of different ones. Pretty much anytime I’m in the car by myself, I’m listening to a podcast. If I’m doing yard work, I’m listening to a podcast. If I’m on a walk, I’m listening to a podcast. I think you get the idea.

Experts

One of the reasons I love podcasts is because they give me access to a large number and a variety of experts that I might not otherwise have. On these podcasts, I can listen while a host interviews these experts and asks many of the same sorts of questions I might if I had the opportunity and some that I wouldn’t even think of.

With the Restoring Nurses Podcast, I want to do the same for you. I will be connecting with and interviewing a wide variety of experts in each of the 5 Domains of Self-Care. I will ask the questions that you might ask if you were there. Together we will both learn to take better care of ourselves.

Stories

Another great thing about podcasts is stories. Sometimes just hearing that someone else has experienced something similar to you can help you get through it. It’s also great to hear how they managed it.

In addition to interviewing experts, I’ll be connecting with a wide variety of nurses to discuss their own self-care journey, their struggles, and the lessons they learned along the way.

Tips and Tricks

One more thing that podcasts offer is tips and tricks for whatever it is that the podcast is focused on. For the Restoring Nurses Podcast, the focus is self-care. So, in each episode, I will be giving you tips and tricks that you can implement in your life to help you take better care of yourself.

Entertainment

Lastly, most of the podcasts I listen to are just fun to listen to. In fact, if they are boring, I’m probably gonna stop listening, no matter how good the information may be. I want to provide good information for you, but I also want to have some fun along the way.

Listen now

You can use the player below to listen to the first episode. Or you can listen on your favorite podcast player. You should be able to find us on most podcast players. But, If you can’t, let me know and I’ll see about getting it to your player.

Subscribe

To make sure you never miss an episode, be sure to subscribe.

The post Introducing the Restoring Nurses Podcast appeared first on Restoring Nurses.

]]> https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/12/introducing-the-restoring-nurses-podcast/feed/ 0 7894 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty for Self-Care https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/03/5-reasons-you-shouldnt-feel-guilty-for-self-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-reasons-you-shouldnt-feel-guilty-for-self-care https://restoringnurses.com/2022/05/03/5-reasons-you-shouldnt-feel-guilty-for-self-care/#comments Tue, 03 May 2022 11:30:00 +0000 https://restoringnurses.com/?p=7791 Many nurses feel guilty for doing self-care. You shouldn't and here are 5 reasons why.

The post 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty for Self-Care appeared first on Restoring Nurses.

]]> Some time ago I did a super scientific poll on TikTok asking nurses to identify their biggest barriers to self-care. Ok, not really scientific, but I did have over 150 responses. There were some common themes in those responses. From them, I pulled the top 10, which I listed in a previous post.

In upcoming posts, I want to take time to speak to each of these barriers.

One that came up over and over again was guilt. I can totally identify with this one, yet it makes me really sad. How is it that people have such high value for other people and spend so much time caring for others think themselves unworthy of that very same care? Even worse, at least one person said that they had actually been told it was selfish for them to take time for themselves.

So, should we feel guilty for taking time for self-care?

The short answer is NO!!

But, I know that’s easier said than done. So, here are 5 reasons you shouldn’t feel guilty for self-care:

1 – You deserve to be cared for.

You put so much of yourself into caring for others. You do it because you value those people. Here’s the thing. You carry the same value. I know that many of you are going to read this and will not FEEL it. I would challenge you to give me any reasons why you are less deserving of the same sort of care you give to your patients, family, and friends.

In fact, I’ll take it one step further. If you think that you don’t deserve the same sort of care that you constantly give to others, then EMAIL me and let’s talk about it.

2 – Caring for yourself actually makes you better at caring for everyone else.

I don’t need to tell you that constantly caring for everyone else is exhausting at times. It takes a lot of energy. Those of us that do this for a living have a huge capacity for giving to others. Still, we get tired. Taking time to care for yourself gives you the fuel you need to continue caring for others. Yes, you can push through and keep going without self-care, but you will get tired and you will not be able to give the same level of care.

3 – If you don’t, you will eventually run out.

As I said above, we nurses have an enormous capacity for giving to others. But, that capacity is not unending. When I think of this I always think of a watering can. Imagine a watering can that you might use to water your plants. That can has the capacity to carry water to the plants and give them what they need.

At some point, you have to refill that can or it can’t do the job it was designed to do. It still has the CAPACITY to carry water, to give those plants what they need, but it no longer has the ABILITY because it is empty.

We are the same way. We constantly pour out of ourselves and into everyone else. We have great CAPACITY, but if we don’t take time to fill ourselves back up, we will eventually run out of the ABILITY to care for everyone else, because we will be empty.

4 – You’re not a water hose

If we are honest, many of trying to pretend that we are more like a water hose. You see, if I go outside my house to the water hose and turn it on there is a near-endless supply of water. We behave as if we are the same. We act as if we can just keep giving and giving and will never run out.

This is simply not true.

You’re awesome. You have an amazing capacity for giving. But, you’re not invincible and your capacity for giving does have a limit.

5 – You’re already tired

If you’re honest, I bet you’d admit that you’re already tired. I don’t know many nurses that aren’t. Many of us were already tired before going into this pandemic and this has quite literally sucked the life out of us.

The statistics reflect this. Nurses are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. While some of this is simply that nurses have given up hope that their employers are going to do anything to try and fix their situations, for many it’s simply that they have run empty. Completely empty.

Are you already tired? Are you ready to start taking better care of yourself? Download your free self-care guide below to get started now.

The post 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Feel Guilty for Self-Care appeared first on Restoring Nurses.

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