Teaching and assessment strategies for nursing self-care competencies in Ontario's nursing education programs

Defining young people's mental health self-care: a systematic review and co-development approach

Self-care is among the emerging types of mental health support which operate outside traditional services, although the meaning and practice of self-care for young people with mental health difficulties are currently unclear. This systematic review was pre-registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021282510) and investigated conceptualizations of self-care in academic publications which investigated or discussed self-care for young people's mental health or wellbeing. A Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) workshop facilitated young people with experience of mental health difficulties to respond to the identified concepts and co-develop a definition of self-care. Searches in PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, and gray literature sources resulted in 90 included publications. Content analysis indicated little conceptual consistency, with health and wellness promotion most commonly used to define self-care. The PPI workshop co-developed a definition of mental health self-care, which attendees felt should emphasize an individual process of self-awareness, self-compassion, and specific strategies to work toward emotional balance. This study highlights the gap between current academic understandings of young people's mental health self-care and young people's experience. The presented definition will enable future research to begin from an understanding of self-care which is relevant to young people with experience of mental health difficulties.

Prevalence of burnout and related factors in nursing faculty members: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The current study aimed to identify the prevalence of burnout and related factors in nursing faculty members through a systematic review of the literature.

METHODS

A comprehensive search of electronic databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Iranmedex, and Scientific Information Database was conducted via keywords extracted from Medical Subject Headings, including burnout and nursing faculty, for studies published from database inception to April 1, 2022. The quality of the included studies in this review was assessed using the appraisal tool for cross-sectional studies.

RESULTS

A total of 2,551 nursing faculty members were enrolled in 11 studies. The mean score of burnout in nursing faculty members based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was 59.28 out of 132. The burnout score in this study was presented in 3 MBI subscales: emotional exhaustion, 21.24 (standard deviation [SD]=9.70) out of 54; depersonalization, 5.88 (SD=4.20) out of 30; and personal accomplishment, 32.16 (SD=6.45) out of 48. Several factors had significant relationships with burnout in nursing faculty members, including gender, level of education, hours of work, number of classroom, students taught, full-time work, job pressure, perceived stress, subjective well-being, marital status, job satisfaction, work setting satisfaction, workplace empowerment, collegial support, management style, fulfillment of self-expectation, communication style, humor, and academic position.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the mean burnout scores in nursing faculty members were moderate. Therefore, health policymakers and managers can reduce the likelihood of burnout in nursing faculty members by using psychosocial interventions and support.

Enhancing conceptual clarity of self-care for nursing students: A scoping review

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to explore how self-care is currently defined and conceptualized in nursing education literature and identify gaps in current conceptualizations of self-care for nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Given the considerable stressors experienced by nursing students, self-care is an important concept for enhancing well-being. However, self-care has been poorly defined in the literature to date, contributing to challenges in integrating self-care into nursing education in support of student mental health and well-being.

DESIGN

A scoping review was undertaken in accordance with Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework and Levac et al.'s (2010) subsequent guidance.

METHODS

The search was conducted up to 1 September 2020 across three databases: Medline (OVID), PsycINFO and CINAHL. Search terms 'self-care', 'nursing students' and 'nursing education' were used. Criteria for inclusion of articles included peer-reviewed articles published in English that addressed self-care in the context of nursing education and/or nursing students and provided a definition of self-care. Two reviewers independently screened 1181 records by title and abstract, with a third reviewer resolving discrepancies. Subsequently, full-text review was completed for 119 articles.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven studies were included in the review, including 21 empirical articles and 6 non-empirical articles. Sixteen (59%) articles described an educational intervention, including self-care courses, assignments, or integration of self-care modalities as a classroom activity. Qualitative thematic analysis of article aims, and self-care definitions illustrated three central themes in the conceptualization of self-care: self-care as an aspect of holistic nursing; self-care as practices that ensure a healthy lifestyle; and self-care as activities undertaken in response to stress.

CONCLUSIONS

There is considerable variability in how self-care for nursing students is conceptualized, contributing to inconsistencies in the integration of this concept into nursing education. Nurse educators are encouraged to support students in identifying their own self-care strategies and engage in reflection and action toward shifting systemic contributors to stress and burnout among nursing students.

From spiritual intelligence to spiritual care: A transformative approach to holistic practice

Spiritual care has long been known for being as important as difficult to deliver. Many barriers to spiritual care practice have been reported but are still difficult to overcome. Yet, the answer may not be centred in the patient needs but in the healthcare provider' spiritual self-awareness and self-consciousness. The debate is then opened on what concepts should really be addressed: spiritual care or spiritual intelligence and which should be trained since spiritual intelligence enhancement can bring many other benefits beyond increased quality of care, such as self-growing tools to better cope with the hardiness of the profession. This paper introduces the debate around this issue, and opens the discussion to different perspectives and approaches to a troublesome educational subject.

Practicing What We Preach: Teaching Psychiatric-Mental Health Student Nurses to Care For Themselves

It is well known that stress has a profoundly negative impact on the physical, mental, and spiritual health of nurses. In addition, undergraduate nursing students experience a tremendous amount of stress as a result of their academic and clinical requirements. In the current study, new self-care activities were introduced in an undergraduate psychiatric-mental health nursing course at a midsize, teaching-intensive university over the course of four academic semesters. Thematic analysis was conducted using qualitative feedback from 79 students who completed standard university course evaluations, and four major themes emerged: Stress Levels, Use of Self-Care Strategies and Coping Skills, Self-Reflection, and Perception of Instructor. Overall, students found value in self-care activities that have potential to reduce burnout, increase retention, and improve student and patient outcomes. Therefore, a proactive approach should be taken early in undergraduate programs to provide education to nursing students about strategies to combat the deleterious effects of stress and promote self-care. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 58(6), 40-45.].