Self-Care is not selfish.
Some will need modifying to suit your prefere.
Some will fit your lifestyle.
Some will resonate with you immediately.
To that end, we hope that you will try many of the practices shared here.
This Self-Care tool kit, instead of hammers, screw drivers, and tape measures, will be a collection of a strategies, behaviors, and mindsets that will help you flourish in nursing.
The tools are essential to getting the job done.
Just like a carpentry tool kit or any tool kit, it will contain important items to help you be the best nurse (or carpenter) possible.
We encourage you to build your own Self-Care tool kit.
There are so many resources to explore, and we have designed this WORKBOOK to encourage you to take advantage of as many of them as you can.
Self-Care has become an exciting field of study and practice, especially during the time of COVID-19 and other stressors that affect those of us who work in healthcare.
Our hope for you is that you will wholeheartedly jump in and explore both the practices outlined in this book and others that you encounter in this journey.
Building a Self-Care Tool KitThis WORKBOOK will provide opportunities for you, the Student nurse or new graduate nurse, to explore Self-Care behaviors that will help you deal with the big and small stressors you will encounter in your life or that you are encountering now.
The importance of a healthy work environment cannot be overstated, and in this book, we offer help in selecting a healthy workplace and encourage readers to advocate for themselves and others.
In general, Student Nurses face significantly more stress than their peers, increasing the importance and value of Self-Care practices during nursing school.
Individual Self-Care practices do not let organizations off the hook.
A major thread throughout this book is that we don\'t want to be the naked person offering someone their coat.
Self-Care is about the mind as much as it is about the body.
Self-Care is a lifelong practice, and it is best to begin the practice early, before facing the stressors of a hospital or other clinical setting.
But meaningful work has its limits.
The nursing profession is inherently meaningful in that we care for patients and families during their most vulnerable moments.
Nurses should be entitled, in fact expected, to care for themselves with the same creativity and compassion that they use to care for others.
Nurses don\'t flourish simply by fostering the well-being of others.
Self-Care is not selfish
