NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: Alyssa Brooks Your Buddy: Isabel Moiser

Select any evidence-based intervention/recommendation to follow (do this over 8 weeks):

 Sleep at least 7 hours per night before and after a work or school day
 Practice mindfulness meditation for at least 10 minutes everyday
 Complete at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, such as biking under 9
mph, dancing, jogging, or playing tennis; or complete 60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week,
such as running, kickboxing, or jumping rope.
 Participate in two professionally led yoga classes for one hour or longer per week
 Spend up to 2 hrs in Nature or longer per week
 Other (Must get your Clinical Faculty approval first, and activity should be up to 2 hrs or longer
per week): Baking desserts for at least 2 hours a week.

Complete Weekly journal entries:

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
1
This week one day I decided to make Vanilla Biscotti and once cooled dipped the bottoms in semi-
sweet chocolate. Overall it only took me 2 hours to make these and dip them in chocolate!

Comments on Activity:
This was a great way to relax after having clinical two days in a row. While the biscotti weren’t very
hard to make, it was a little time consuming as you keep taking it out and then putting it back in the
oven at a lower temperature to make sure it gets crunchy.

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

2
This week I decided to make two desserts. I made cinnamon buttermilk bread and chocolate chip
cookies. The cinnamon buttermilk bread took me 1 hour and the chocolate chip cookies took me 1 hour
and 15 minutes.
Comments on Activity:

This was a great way to destress after taking the 473 exam as I had technical difficulties with my
Examity. I clearly used the wrong size bread pan though as half way through cooking some of the batter
spilled over and started to burn in the oven!! I also decided to take some of the chocolate chip cookies to
the nurses on my unit for my last day of preceptorship and they loved them!

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

My buddy kept up with her self-care this week by going on a walk while her mom was visiting in town.
They went to the Rilito River Park early in the morning while it was still cool. It sounded very relaxing!

M O’C Fall 2018

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
3
I decided to make lemon blueberry cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. I even topped them with
fresh blueberries. With baking and frosting it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to make these tasty cupcakes!
Here is a picture of them:
Comments on Activity:

I made these after the Midterm to celebrate doing well on it and to give me a break
from doing other classwork. It was nice to take a break from doing homework.
Normally when I bake cupcakes it’s always for someone else so I enjoyed being able
to make these without the pressure of having them be perfect.

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

This week my buddy went to campus and did homework/studied in her hammock. This was an awesome
way to get outdoors while also getting some homework done. She mentioned it was pretty quiet on
campus and allowed her to focus.

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

4
This week I decided it was time to finally make cinnamon rolls. Overall it took
me 3 hours to make them! Here is the final product:

Comments on Activity:

I have been wanting to make cinnamon rolls for a few years now but haven’t
made the time. Every time I thought about making I would read the recipe and say it was too
complicated or I was nervous to try using yeast. This was my first time baking with yeast so I was a
little scared but it turned out great!

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

This week my buddy went to Mount Lemmon to go on a hike. Mount Lemmon is always so pretty in the
fall so she definitely was in a lot of nature. I can imagine it looks a little different now since there was
the fire. She said it also was so much cooler than here which is even better.

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

5
This week I made a “mud pie” which is a pie that has a chocolate crust and mocha almond fudge ice
cream and then is topped with whipped cream and a fudge syrup. Overall this pie took me 4 hours since
it had to keep going back and forth into the freezer. See picture below:
Comments on Activity:

This pie has been my family’s favorite since I was little. It is super hard to find now and if you do they
are overpriced. I decided it couldn’t be that hard to make so I combined two recipes I found to make it. I
made the pie crust, whipped cream, and fudge syrup all from scratch!

M O’C Fall 2018

 Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Isabel’s self-care activity in nature this week was going to the Rillito River Loop to walk. She said it
was really nice and there weren’t too many people out on the loop. Honestly just getting out of the
house and walking around somewhere sounds really nice since we are inside on zoom so much.

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

6
This week I make Halloween sugar cookies! They took me 3 hours to bake
and decorate. Here is how they turned out:

Comments on Activity:

Since it was the week before Halloween and I felt like I hadn’t done anything Halloween related that I
should make some cookies that were spooky! While Halloween was definitely different this year
making these cookies helped me get in the spirit.

Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

This week my buddy went on a hike as her activity in nature. She went to Tumamoc Hill and sat up at
the top listening to a podcast. She chose an awesome day to go hike as the weather was beautiful. I can
only imagine how peaceful it was to enjoy the cool weather and listen to a podcast.

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

7
This week I made blueberry muffins with fresh blueberries and a
crumb topping. These weren’t too hard to make and it took me just
about 2 hours.
Comments on Activity:

These were so fun to make as I had never done a crumb topping before. It’s a little trickier that I thought
but once I got the butter to soften a bit more it came out great! My roommates and coworkers loved
them.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

This week my buddy’s last self-care activity was going for a walk and spending time in her hammock. It
sounded really relaxing!!

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):

8
For my last week of a self-care activity I made Vanilla Chai Pumpkin Latte
Cupcakes. I made and decorated 24 cupcakes in 2 and a half hours.
Here is a picture of how they turned out:

Comments on Activity:
M O’C Fall 2018
 I made these cupcakes with a few of my friends which made this activity even
more relaxing and fun since I got to spend time with them and bake. The cupcake
part came out really good but the icing came out way too sweet.

Complete Survey Below

(Once Completed submit entire document to D2L Assignment Drop box by Due date and add to Your
Portfolio.)

Reflection on Panopto presentation and 8-week intervention:

What did these activities teach you?

Making sure to take time during my week to bake taught me the importance of taking a break and doing
something you enjoy. I know everyone always says to focus on self-care but now I truly understand the
need for it especially working as a nurse since burnout is so high. It also taught me to have more fun
with baking and not be such a perfectionist.

Have you noticed any changes in your life since you began this intervention?

Since beginning this intervention I have realized it has reduced my stress levels each week. Whether I
have a big project to do or a test it was really relaxing to either take a break and bake or bake after the
assignment was due. Each week I started to look forward to when I could bake. I even wrote it in my
planner so when I looked at all the assignments or tests I had to do I could see when I was going to
destress and bake.

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

I will definitely continue to incorporate this self-care activity and many others into my life going
forward. I think it will be a good way to help with stress from work or life. There are some self-care
activities I want to incorporate daily such as getting enough sleep and drinking enough water and others
I want to do once a week.

Comments/suggestions:

Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with these statements:
Following an evidence-based recommendation to reduce burnout was valuable to me.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
M O’C Fall 2018
 5 4 3 2 1

This 8-week intervention will help me implement preventative strategies for burnout in my career.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
5 4 3 2 1

This Panopto presentation titled: “Nurse Burnout: What this is and how you can minimize it in your careers”
effectively taught me how I can reduce and address nurse burnout in my career.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
5 4 3 2 1

Completing the Big Five Personality Test was helpful for exploring my risk of nurse burnout.

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
1 2 3 4 5

M O’C Fall 2018