Date of Award

9-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Mindfulness Studies

First Advisor

Melissa Jean

Second Advisor

Andrew Olendzki

Abstract

Nurses provide compassionate care to their patients and often fail to turn that compassion inwards. Nurses are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress in the workplace related to the COVID-19 pandemic and research shows that workplace stress has a negative impact on both nurses and the patients they care for. The wellness of the nursing force is a public health priority. This paper describes the workplace challenges facing nurses today, and the associated impact on nurses and patients is supported with research. Research is offered supporting self-care and self-compassion as vital components to wellness, enhanced emotional resilience, and prevention of burnout and compassion fatigue among nurses. The research examined in this paper investigates the impact and efficacy of yoga and Reiki as self-care interventions to help nurses cope with the demands of the current health care environment and foster self-compassion. The research shows a need for nurses to engage in self-care for all the reasons stated. What was missing from the literature reviewed was how to engage nurses to invest in their self-care. A creative thesis follows the rationale paper and offers a yoga and Reiki retreat for nurses as a vehicle to engage nurses in self-care. The retreat creates a space for cultivating self-compassion and offers nurses an immersion into yoga and Reiki on an experiential level.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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