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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

Self-Care Assignment

Megumi Miyajima-Olguin RN

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

Nur 3209

JeanMarie Digges, MSN, RN, CPNP, CNE

12/04/20

“I Pledge”
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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

 Congratulations! You have demonstrated that you are making good choices regarding your health.
You are doing particularly well in the following areas:

 Physical Activity : 84
 Nutrition : 100
 Self Care : 88
 Safety : 92
 Social and Environmental Wellness : 88
 Emotional Awareness and Sexuality : 96
 Emotional Management : 80
 Intellectual Wellness : 88
 Spirituality and Values : 92

Build on the great start you have made in the preceding areas by making positive changes in the
following areas:

 Occupational Wellness : 72

It is important that you pay attention to the choices that you are making in the following areas as they
need improvement:

Today our lives and the lives of our employees are very complex. To maintain a healthy balance, all
dimensions of our lives need attention. If we invest too much of our energies in one or two of these dimensions,
the others will suffer, resulting in a decrease of our overall well-being. All dimensions relate to and affect each
other. For example, what happens at work often affects what happens at home. The goal of a wellness lifestyle
is to continually strive for both a balance between the dimensions as well as a high level of wellness in each
dimension.
Physical Activity : 84 Emotional Awareness and Sexuality: 96
Nutrition: 100 Emotional Management :80
Self Care: 88 Intellectual Wellness :88
Safety : 92 Occupational Wellness:72
Social and Environmental Wellness: 88 Spirituality and Values : 92

Overall Composite Score:  880

 
Interpretation of Scores
Section Overall Composite
80 - 100 Excellent 800 - 1000 Excellent
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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

60 - 79 Good 600 - 790 Good

Room for Room for
Less than 60 Less than 600
Improvement Improvement
 
As you review the results, note any sections in which your group exceeded the 80th
percentile. These scores will identify the strengths of your group that may be used as a
foundation for improving the organization's total well being. Those scores which are lower
than 60% may need careful attention as you design and implement wellness programs.
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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

Self-Care: Week 2

Based on my “Holistic Lifestyle Questionnaire” results, I scored “room for improvement”

under the “occupational wellness” category. I was surprised at that, because I really enjoy my job

as an Emergency RN. Though I enjoy my job, I do feel like it takes up a lot of my time and

emotional energy. I work nightshift and am constantly tired. When I wake up, I have chores, my

workout routine, grocery shopping, and, now, school assignments. After all that is done, I have a

small amount of time to do the leisurely things I enjoy. I love reading in the hammock, cuddling

with my dog, doing my nails, listening to music, cooking a complicated recipe, and spending

time with my husband. I feel so rushed in my day.

The behavior I need to change, is to plan out my day better so I have time to decompress and

recharge from work so I’m not so drained. It would help me enjoy and maximize the time on my

days off, improve my mood at work, and ultimately improve the patient care I give. A long-term

goal for achieving this behavior change would be to have at 2-3 hours of free-time a day 4 times

a week. A short-term goal to achieve this behavior would be to share some of my chores with my

husband. I am in the action stage of this behavior change. Since school has started, my husband

has been shouldering more of the house work and dog walking giving me more time for school

work. Some barriers to achieving my goals would be physical tiredness that makes me want to

sleep longer and my clean-freak personality that has to make sure everything is clean before I

can do anything else.

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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

Self-Care: Week 3

My short term goal was to plan my day better to help me enjoy and maximize the time on my

days off, improve my mood at work, and ultimately improve the patient care I give. More

specifically, this week I wanted to carve out an extra 6 hours to do 2 x 30 mile bike rides (vs my

1 x 30 mile ride a week). I obtained this goal riding on Sunday and Thursday. What help me get

this extra time was to carve out more focused study time (2 hours every other day) and I tried to

stay motivated to do the extra ride.

An obstacle I faced this week was getting called into work Wednesday night. Our unit

was extremely busy and we were having a system downtime on top of that. I was so tired after

that extra shift, but I got off around 5 am. I went home and got everything ready and did a

sunrise ride. It was beautiful and a great way to decompress after a hard shift.

Another obstacle I faced was getting myself worked up over the vSim assignment. I spent

hours on this thing! I have been doing nursing assessments for 5 years, and I feel like I’m pretty

decent at them. This software, however, is very tedious and I tried 4 times. I would do a full

assessment (clicking all the boxes and asking all the questions) and it would time me out with a

bad score. I would do a more focused assessment and it would mark against me. I had to remind

myself that these modules aren’t real-life, and they are trying to get specific learning messages

across. I hope that the modules get better and aren’t as time consuming.

Next week, I’m going to lay out more time for vSim (hopefully, I will be better at using

the software) and I am not on call. I will have that extra time.

Self-Care: Week 4
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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

My short-term goal was to plan my day better to help me enjoy and maximize the time on my

days off, improve my mood at work, and ultimately improve the patient care I give. This week

specifically, I wanted to have an outdoor movie night with friends on Saturday to decompress

from the week.  

1.) What I planned to do to contribute to the attainment of my goal this week…. I planned to do

all my homework by Thursday so when I got off Friday I could plan the gathering and go

grocery shopping to be ready for Saturday.  

2.) What I actually did…I ended up finishing the week’s homework on Friday, but I had to spend

most of Saturday planning. It was a little more “down-to-the-wire" than I hoped for.  

3.) What helped me follow my plan…I contacted my invited friends and everyone said that they

would bring something so I didn’t have to do a large grocery run. My husband did ALL of the

yard work and set up the projector.  

4.) What obstacles did I face this week…I had a to make a video for once class and it ended up

taking more time than anticipated. I have never edited a video before.  

5.) What should I do differently next week…This week’s gathering was a success. It was very

relaxing to spend time with friends outdoors. The weather was beautiful and we looked at the

moon and stars with a star-gazing app after the movie.  I feel like I’m getting a better feel for

online learning, so I’m already starting on the next week’s assignments ahead of time. 

Self-Care: Week 5

1.) What I planned to do to contribute to the attainment of my goal this week….

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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

I took a different approach to my time/stress management goal this week. I wanted to reflect on

my time management as compared to some of my co-workers who are also going to school.

2.) What I actually did…..

I spoke to 3 different nurses who are all working full-time and going to school. Comparatively, I

am doing very well with time management considering my situation. I do not have children. Two

of my nurse friends are home schooling on top of going to school and working themselves. My

third nurse friend has another part-time job because her husband has been out of the work related

to COVID.

3.) What helped me follow my plan…

Talking to my nurse friends about their daily obligations made me very grateful that mine are not

as taxing. Gaining this perspective, I feel a lot better about my work/school schedule.

4.) What obstacles did I face this week…

This week I was a little more stressed than normal because I was charge nurse and a preceptor to

a new nurse at work. I rather do one or the other. Doing both stresses me out, honestly. It is hard

to focus on the entire unit and my preceptee. The normal charge nurse was on vacation, so this is

not a regular thing, hopefully.

5.) What should I do differently next week…

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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

As mentioned before, my roles at work won’t normally be spread so thin, so next week should be

less stressful. With my new perspective from my 3 nurse friends, I feel grateful that my home

life is not as chaotic.

Self-Care: Week 6

What I planned to do to contribute to the attainment of my goal this week….

I love exercise and it is one of the only things that keeps my stress low. I typically do some form

of strenuous activity 5 x week. This week, I had 2 sports injuries, so I decided to take it easy on

my exercise regimen. I planned to only do 4 days of strenuous exercise this week.

What I actually did…..

I still ran 8 miles and did 30 mile cycle trip, but I did yoga in the park with friends

one day in place of a run day. I also took a day of rest. In total, I did 4 days of

strenuous exercise, 1 day of stretch, and 2 days of rest.

What helped me follow my plan…

My friend/neighbor helped organize a socially distant yoga class in the park by my house. It was

low impact and very relaxing. Doing yoga also helped stretch the muscle groups that were

aching. I also went to Fleet Feet and purchased special orthotics and more supportive running

shoes for my feet.

What obstacles did I face this week…

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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

I had 2 sports injuries to mend this week. I pulled my right glute cycling last Sunday and

developed right metatarsalgia playing tennis with my husband.

What should I do differently next week…

I will have to take it easy again next week as I am still not feeling 100%. This is my most

favorite time of the year to run, so I’m hoping I heal fast.

Self-Care: Week 7

What I planned to do to contribute to the attainment of my goal this week….

This week I am planning on doing more low-impact stretch and floor exercise while my right

foot heals. The MD at my work thinks I have either a 3rd metatarsal stress fracture or

metatarsalgia.

What I actually did…..

I was going to take it easy on strenuous exercise this week, but foolishly went running on Sunday

with my injured foot. It hurts much more now. I worked on it Sunday night and I was hobbling

around. I purchased some wraps and a metatarsal offloading pad. As far as my stress relief goal, I

cannot run like I’m use to. I have been doing more yoga. I went to the second session last

Saturday and am hooked. I was surprised how sore I was from holding the poses.

What helped me follow my plan…

I told myself that my feet are my “money-makers” and I need to care for them and give them

time to heal. I acknowledged the old adage that “nurses make the worst patients”.

What obstacles did I face this week…

There is a lot of homework this week. I’m trying to balance it with work.
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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

What should I do differently next week…

I’m going to do low impact exercise next week. I purchase a yoga mat and have been practicing

at home and with Youtube videos. I will also attend my weekly session. It is very stress relieving

with focusing on breath and getting blood flow to the body.

Self-Care: Week 8

What I planned to do to contribute to the attainment of my goal this week….

This week I planned to continue to heal my right foot and practice stress relief through other

outlets.

What I actually did…..

I haven’t went running for over a week now! I haven’t gone this long without running in a long

time. For stress relief I decorated for Halloween and cooked some foods from home. There is

nothing better than comfort foods from your childhood! I still did 2 x 30 mile cycle trips this

week, which helped me clear my head.

What helped me follow my plan…

I have been changing my mindset to let myself rest. I have been thinking about the bible verse,

“(There is).. a time to tear and a time to mend.” Ecclesiastes 3:7.

What obstacles did I face this week…

The only obstacles toward my goal this week is the need to finish my homework earlier. My

cousins are coming to visit me on Thursday!

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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

What should I do differently next week…

Next week I am going to try a short run to test my foot.

Self-Care: Week 15

My original goal was to plan out my day better to have time to do the activities I’m interested

in that aren’t related to school or work. This would help me recharge after work, maximize the

time on my days off, improve my mood at work, and ultimately improve the patient care I give.

This goal was successful. I found that I have more free time than most of my collogues;

collogues who have children, for example. I was then left with planning my day out. I purchased

a physical day planner and wrote everything I needed to get done in there. I would spend the

beginning of every week looking at the assignments due and fill them in to the calendar. I

became adjusted to the structure of online classes and chiseled out time for work and play.

Once I figured out my obligations, I supplemented my favorite activities; the activities that

keep me happy and healthy. These activities include cycling, running, cooking with my husband,

reading for leisure, and walking my dog. I ran in to a snag in the beginning as I developed a

stress fracture in my right foot. I had to take time off of running, which made me really sad. I

started practicing Yoga with my neighbors in an outdoor, socially distant setting. Yoga is

incredible! It helps you focus on breathing, balance, and strength. It is about sending positive

energy out in the world and one of our class mantras is, “Thank yourself for taking time out for

self-care today so that we may go out in the world and care for others.” Yoga has also taught me,

“Don’t do violence to your body.” I was working on my feet and running too much, I ended up
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Nur 3209: Self Care Assignment

injuring myself with a stress fracture. It was my body’s way of telling me to slow down and give

time to recuperate.

Like Yoga practice and these self-care blogs, we have to check in with ourselves. As nurses,

we assess our patients, but we also have to do that for ourselves. We have to do an inventory of

what is working and what isn’t. We also have to roll with the snags and try new things. If we are

not feeling well, we don’t have the energy mentally and physically to show true compassion and

give good quality service that participating in a Catholic ministry requires. If we are doing well,

we project that positivity to the people we care for. We can lead by example with our own

healthy lifestyles.

This week, I started running again. I was patient with my recuperation and my foot had a

chance to heal. I gained other positive things through trying to achieve the initial goal. I feel like

I am more in tune with my body, organized, and am more patient in general. All of this translates

to a calmness I now bring to work and care.