NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: _Brooke Cozen______________________ Your Buddy: Maycee Ruiz_______________

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)

Complete Weekly journal entries:

Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
1
This week I practiced mindfulness meditation through some yoga stretches before bedtime. I did 10
minutes of mindful yoga before bed every night this week.

Comments on Activity:

I really liked this new addition into my routine. I feel as though it made me feel more relaxed and
helped me to fall asleep easier. I am looking forward to continuing this for the next 7 weeks!

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

2
This week I decided to practice my mindful meditation without movement and just meditated by sitting
and closing my eyes in a calm space for 10 minutes daily.

Comments on Activity:

I wanted to experiment with mindfulness meditation throughout this self-care journal and learn to
meditate while sitting, doing yoga, etc. I think I enjoy doing mindfulness meditation with some
movement instead of sitting still because sometimes I find myself sleepy afterwards. From here on out, I
think I will incorporate movement into my meditation each day.

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

My buddy, Maycee, is also doing mindfulness meditation so we had a lot in common. We also live
together so I would perhaps like to do some meditation together! This week, Maycee told me that she
does not like to do her meditation while sitting still in silence, so I suggested she uses guided YouTube

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 videos.

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

3 This week I did my mindful meditation in a couple of different ways. For half of the week I did
movement and stretches with my meditation and for the other half I did it before bed just while sitting to
facilitate sleep. Each meditation ranged from 10-15 minutes per day.

Comments on Activity:
I decided to do both meditation with movement and meditation before sleeping this week to see how it
would incorporate into my schedule. I actually really liked doing this because it provided me with
variety, and I didn’t get bored.

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

Maycee is enjoying her guided YouTube videos and says that she likes this method better than silently
meditating. I told her what I was doing this week and she thought that it was good variety. I told her she
should try stretching with meditation sometime!

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

4 This week I went back to mindful meditation with stretching for 10-15 minutes per day.

Comments on Activity:
I started my preceptorship this week and have been very tired and sore, specifically in my feet and lower
back. Since I’m not having any trouble sleeping at the moment (because I’m so exhausted) I decided to
do my mindful meditation with stretches to help alleviate some of my soreness and discomfort. This was
definitely a nice self-care activity this week.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Maycee is still practicing her meditation through guided YouTube videos. We discussed doing some
longer meditations to get the most out of it.

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

5
This week I continued to practice mindful meditation while stretching for 10-15 minutes per day.

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 Comments on Activity:

No big changes from last week. I like incorporating stretches into my routine because it helps with
aches and pains from standing all day at preceptorship.

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

Maycee increased her meditations to 15 minutes per night this week. She also mentioned that she has
been incorporating the use of an oil diffuser and that it is very relaxing.

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

6
This week I did about 10 minutes of meditation laying down before bed each night.

Comments on Activity:

This week I was more tired than usual and a little bit busier, so I decided to just do some meditation
while lying down before bed. This was very relaxing and helped me go to sleep very quickly.

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

Maycee has started to do her 10-15-minute meditations in the morning and at night this week. She
enjoyed adding morning sessions to her practice because it started her day out better and she felt more
at-ease during the week.

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

7
I did 10-15 minutes of mindful meditation laying down before bed each night this week.

Comments on Activity:

Similar to last week, I was feeling tired and a little bit lazy this week. I decided to continue with laying
down meditation to relax me and help me fall asleep.

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

Maycee has not changed anything from her last week’s routine. She is enjoying her current practice and
schedule. We both enjoy doing mindful meditation and want to continue after this class!

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Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
8
This week I did 15 minutes of mindful meditation with yoga stretches per day.

Comments on Activity:

I finished my preceptorship this week and had a little more time on my hands, so I started to extend the
length of time of my meditation and I also incorporated stretches again. I think that I like doing
meditation before bed for sleep but also during the day with stretches—every week varies. I will
continue to practice mindful meditation as this has been very relaxing for me!
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?

My mindful meditation taught me self-awareness out of everything. When I first started meditating, I
noticed that my mind would wander a lot and that I had trouble focusing on my breathing/mindfulness.
Over time, I have gotten better about leaving my thoughts behind and being present. It has taught me
that I definitely need time to compress and that having time that is absent of wandering thoughts is
really refreshing for me! It absolutely helped me to de-stress.

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

Like I mentioned above, I noticed that I was stressed much less. I also slept much better and
experienced less fatigue. I go through stages of having lower back pain when I wake up and I have not
experienced this since starting my stretching and meditation.

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

I will definitely be incorporating mindful meditation into my week. Even though I may not want to do it
every day (if I’m lazy or tired), I will still make an effort to set aside 10 minutes to meditate. I have seen
the benefits and I want to keep the wheels rolling!

Comments/suggestions:
N/A

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

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree
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

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