NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: _______Jing Lu______________ Your Buddy: ____Kiana Wentzel_________

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):

For the week, I decided to follow this mindfulness meditation for 10 minutes every night before going

to bed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syx3a1_LeFo

Comments on Activity:

The first two days that I followed the video, I honestly felt kind of stupid. I’ve never been a huge

meditation person, since I get easily distracted and usually just sitting and breathing makes me bored.

On the third day, I was wearing my smart watch, and after following the video, I noticed that my heart

rate started to decrease.

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

This week on Saturday, I was able to go up to Mount Lemmon to have a little picnic and go on a mini

hike with my boyfriend.

Comments on Activity:
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 I was glad to do a very unstressful hike, that was more of just a walk. I haven’t been working out for a

while, and a walk is a great way to start lightly exercising again. It was really hot in Tucson, and it was

nice to go up, since it was like 10 degrees cooler and with a lot more shade. I really loved the drive up

too, since looking over the city was so pretty.

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

Kiana talked about how she used to drive up there whenever she got stressed and would watch the

sunset. She told me about how she has been taking yoga classes, and how I should join her one day.

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

3 This week I downloaded an app called BetterSleep and I followed their 7 day meditation program for

reclaiming bedtime, each session was about 15 minutes.

Comments on Activity:

The first night I did the meditation very late at night and fell asleep before it was over. The second night

focused on deep body relaxation and I layed down for the whole thing, at times I felt weightless. The

third night focused on thinking about things that we are thankful for and that put me in a good mood

before sleeping. Nights 4-7 focused on letting go of the day before sleeping, and I think taking the time

to reflect really helped relax my mind.

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

Kiana and I talked about how we haven’t been sleeping in as much anymore due to stress and work, so

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 she was glad that I’ve been getting better sleep at night. We talked about how nice it must feel to

actually get 8 hours of sleep a night and that we would try to do it this weekend.

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

4 This week, I spent most of the week mediating with a friend using the app headspace. We would do the

activity right before we went to bed.

Comments on Activity:

Even though we sat in the dark, it was nice to just be there with someone else and not just alone.

However, it was kind of hard to concentrate because I wanted to know what he was doing, since he was

the one who had the most experience meditating. On a couple of days, we would watch cute videos

before watching the meditation videos, which helped me calm down even more.

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

She was happy that I got someone to meditate with since sitting alone can sometimes feel a little

depressing. We talked about how even without meditating, watching the cute videos before bed could be

a nice way to destress from the day.

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

5 This week, I continued to meditate with my friend, and my boyfriend started to join along. We did the

anxiety 7 day course that was on headspace right before bed.

Comments on Activity:

We once again used headspace. This week we would watch a short 5 minute nature video before

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 meditating to get us into a calmer mood. I have been feeling very stressed lately and so I haven’t been in

the best place mentally. Since starting my preceptorship, I have been feeling overwhelmed a lot, and this

course has been making me reflect on my day. It makes me think about what happened during the whole

day and unloads it from my mind.

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

We are both struggling to get into the groove of our preceptorship. It has just made us feel so tired and

unmotivated to do anything. Getting enough sleep each night has now become a greater issue, but she’s

glad I’ve been trying to do some calming things before bed.

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

6 This week, I changed my intervention and spent 2 hours outside in nature. This weekend, I went to

Apple Annies and we spent a couple hours picking apples, sunflowers, and pumpkins.

Comments on Activity:

I felt super relaxed during this entire thing. It was a time to destress from the week I had at my

preceptorship. I focused on being at the present and I forgot about all the assignments that we needed to

do for the week. Instead of thinking about homework, my mind was on just picking the perfect pumpkin

that I could crave. Once I got home though, I was pretty tired and went straight for a nap.

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

She was super excited for me to go and thought that it was a super cute activity that she also hopes to go

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 do soon. We then transitioned to talk more about what is happening in our lives and less about this

project.

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

7 This week I went to the park to feed the ducks, to go on the swings, and just to walk around with my

friends. We probably spent about 3 hours there.

Comments on Activity:

I have been pretty stressed out by things happening in my life right now. It was nice to just go outside

and not have to think about everything else that was happening. I just focused on spending time outside

with those around me and had fun.

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

Kiana encouraged me to persevere through the rest of my preceptorship and just try to keep doing things

I enjoy because we are so close. We both understand the exhaustion that we feel and are just ready for

everything to be over.

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

8 I tried to get back into meditation after not doing it for a couple of weeks. My friend did a guided

meditation for me the first night and I watched a 15 minute youtube video for the other nights of the

week.

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 Comments on Activity:

It was hard getting back into meditation, I felt like I was getting distracted by every little thing over.

When I closed my eyes my mind would begin to think about all these random things instead of just

focusing on my breathing. I think having my friend guide my first meditation really helped me get back

into the mood though, and helped me once again feel more confident in the process.

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?

I have learned that doing something for myself at least once a day is needed to keep my mental health.
When I am under a lot of stress, I tend to forget to do things to take care of myself. I don’t think that
meditation is something that I will implement daily, but it has shown me the benefit of sitting down at
the end of the day to empty my mind and focus on something else. Being outdoors makes my mindset
become more positive even when it is very warm outside. Being outside helped me to distract my mind
away from the things that were bothering me the most.

Have you noticed any changes in your life since you began this intervention?
On the days where I did meditation, I felt like it was really an opportunity to destress from the day, and
forced me to clear the bad things that had happened from my mind. This allowed me to fall asleep
faster, which made me less tired when I woke up in the morning. On the days where I spent time in
nature, I noticed that I was happier during the day and my energy levels were higher. On these days I
was also able to fall asleep faster and stay asleep for longer.

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

I plan to set at least 5-10 minutes every night to reflect on what happened throughout the day to help me
sleep better at night. On the days where I feel really stressed I might reach out to a friend to meditate
with me. I will also try to plan one day a week where I can spend some time outdoors with my friends
and family.

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 Comments/suggestions: I think art classes should be an option, because during these weeks, I went to a

couple of them and thought that they were super relaxing and helped me destress from what was going

on.

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

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

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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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