Nurse Well-Being Learning Library
Take some time to assess your own well-being and identify those areas in your life that you would like to mend or prioritize activities that you already know bring you joy and promote healing. If you are not quite sure what those areas are, try a variety of these methods to see what works best for you. Use the list below to help you with ideas.
Featured Resource
Immersive Wellness Breaks
Do you need a minute to refresh your mind and spirit? Take an immersive wellness break. These wellness breaks are short snippets of either breathing exercises or mindful escapes to help you refocus and recharge. Constant stimulation can cause our brains to lose focus. Taking a mindful break periodically will help your brain relax and start your new task with renewed energy. Take a minute to enjoy a break and return as often as you like!
- Courses
- Nurses’ Stories of Spirit and Practice
eBook and Audiobook
Reflections on Covid 19 and Cancer Care: Stories by Oncology Nurses, Volume 2
Reflections on COVID-19 and Cancer Care: Stories by Oncology Nurses
ONS Voice Articles
The ONS Voice dedicates a column to stories written by nurses. Take a look at the great stories that were published Stories: Our Spirit. Our Practice
Oncology Nursing Podcast
Episode 264: Stop the Stressors and Improve Your Mental Health as a Nurse
"Take a Minute for You" Resources
Download one or more of the following images to help you find a relaxing moment as you work through your day. Some ideas on how to utilize these posters are to hang in a central place on your unit, use them as a screensaver for your computer, or as a digital background for virtual meetings. We have included a post-it size (3x3) option if you would like to add it after your email signature or print and affix to a notebook or next to your computer screen.
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Immersive Wellness Breaks
Do you need a minute to refresh your mind and spirit? Take an immersive wellness break. These wellness breaks are short snippets of either breathing exercises or mindful escapes to help you refocus and recharge. Constant stimulation can cause our brains to lose focus. Taking a mindful break periodically will help your brain relax and start your new task with renewed energy. Take a minute to enjoy a break and return as often as you like!
Personal Well-Being Activities
| Physical Well-Being | Linked resources will take you to the source on how to implement these activities |
|---|---|
| Sleep/Rest & Rewind | Rest, Unwind and Reflect |
| Nutrition | |
| Take care of your feet | Self-Care for the Soles |
| Plan a Vacation | |
| Spring Cleaning |
| Emotional/Spiritual Well-Being | |
|---|---|
| Smile | Amazing Power of a Smile |
| Laugh/watch funny videos | Laugh Every Day for the Health of It |
| Meditation/Guided Imagery/Mindfulness | |
| Set boundaries/prioritize your time | |
| Recognize your humanness | Take These Healthy Steps to Come Back from an Unexpected Event |
| Make a social connection | ONS Members' Patient and Nurse Wellness Programs Embody Black History Month |
| Positive affirmations | Use a Self-Care Mantra to Boost Compassion |
| Intellectual/Creative Well-Being | |
|---|---|
| Storytelling | Use Storytelling to Hear your Patient's Voice |
| Read | You Are What You Read |
| Journaling | Writing for Wellness |
| Art/coloring/painting | Color Out Your Stress and Anxiety |
| Music/listen/play | |
| Learn a new skill/take a free course | Search for Learning Opportunities with ONS |
Unit-Based Well-Being Activities
| Recognize a coworker program | Unit pause after a difficult event | Team building exercises |
| Random acts of kindness | Themed lunches | Staff birthday calendar |
| Team time with the Chaplain | Welcome bags for new grads | Boards with well-being activities |
| Well-being champions | Team huddles | Create a gratitude tree |
| Create a mindfulness corner | Make a vision board | Share kudos at staff meetings |
| Well-being challenges | Massage pad/chair | Positive message board |
Systems-Level Approaches to Well-Being
| Resource | What You Will Find | |
|---|---|---|
| Nurse Well-Being: Building Peer and Leadership Support | This resource provides a Stress Self-Assessment and information on building a Nurse Well-Being: Building Peer and Leadership Support Program, which was adapted by nurses for nurses. | |
| PH-HERO Workforce Resource Center | This website includes a curated collection of resources that address moral injury, burnout, resilience, and retention for public health agency leaders, supervisors, and team members. | |
| Oncology Nurse Retreat: A Strength-Based Approach To Self-Care and Personal Resilience | This CJON article discusses an oncology nurse retreat that focuses on self-care | |
| Massage Chair Sessions: Favorable Effects on Ambulatory Cancer Center Nurses’ Perceived Level of Stress, Blood Pressure, and Heart Rate | This CJON article discusses the effectiveness of using nurse breaks for self-care. | |
| The Thrive Program: Building Oncology Nurse Resilience Through Self-Care Strategies |
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| A Call to Action: Exploring Moral Resilience Toward a Culture of Ethical Practice | p. 12 includes recommendations for organizations across practice settings to cultivate and support moral resilience. Other parts of the document include recommendations for individuals and leaders along with the research findings around moral resilience. | |
| The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health, Chapter 10: Supporting the Health and Professional Well-Being of Nurses |
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Learning Tools
Huddle Card
Oncology Nursing Podcast
Earn FREE contact hours of NCPD for recent episodes and learn on-the-go by listening to ONS podcasts. Individual episode pages will indicate if NCPD is available. Explore additional podcasts in the Oncology Nursing Podcast Learning Library.
- Episode 293: Access to Care: How to Manage Moral Dilemmas and Advocate for Your Patients
- Episode 291: Build a Sense of Belonging for Nurses and Patients
- Episode 277: Futility in Care: How to Advocate for Your Patients and Prevent Ethical Distress
- Episode 266: Create a Culture of Safety: Reporting Culture
- Episode 264: Stop the Stressors and Improve Your Mental Health as a Nurse
- Episode 263: Oncology Nursing Storytelling: Renewal
- Episode 246: Create a Culture of Safety: Fair and Just Culture
- Episode 236: Coping with Grief
- Episode 231: Nurses Thrive in a Healthy Work Culture
- Episode 187: Critical Need for Well-being and Resiliency
- Episode 85: Nursing Resilience and Self-Care Aren’t Optional
- Episode 27: How Self-Care Can Impact Your Nursing Practice
Articles
ONS Voice articles:
Below are examples of ONS Voice articles. Visit voice.ons.org to search for additional articles.
- When Health Care is Woven in our Family Fabric, We Find Support in Unexpected Places
- Critical Event Debriefings Can Reduce Oncology Nurses’ Risk of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
- Warm Weather Provides a Wave of Ways for Nurses to Practice Well-Being
- Institutional Service Dogs Help Nurses with Their Practice and Well-Being
- Simple Meditation Practices Can Maintain Your Mind and Soothe Your Soul
- Celebrate National Humor Month by Sharing Your Favorite Nursing Jokes
- Believe It or Not, You can Face the Day With Little to No Caffeine
- It's Okay to Put Yourself First Sometimes
Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
Below are examples of the types of articles you can find within ONS’s Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON) and Oncology Nursing Forum (ONF) publications. Go to the journal search page to discover additional articles. Use these tips to search efficiently.
- Clinical Oncology Nursing: Will You Leave or Stay?
- Strategies to Mitigate Moral Distress in Oncology Nursing
- Advancing Wellness in 2022 for Professional Nurses: A Time for Action, Not Gestures
- Evidence-Based Strategies to Mitigate Compassion Fatigue Among Oncology Nurses
- Feasibility and Impact of Physical Activity on Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Among Ambulatory Care Oncology Nurses
- Take-a-Break Intervention: Improving Oncology Nurse Wellness
- Burnout and Well-Being: Evaluating Perceptions in Bone Marrow Transplantation Nurses Using Mindfulness Application
Resiliency Resources from the Oncology Nursing Foundation
The Oncology Nursing Foundation has developed resources to support oncology nurses in developing healthy routines, learn stress management techniques, and practice self-care. This curated content includes a Wellness Wisdom video series, breathing exercises, calming yoga offerings, and much more.
For a full list of resources, you can visit their Resiliency Resources page.
External Resources
Supporting Nurse Well-Being Also Supports Magnet Recognition
Your well-being is essential—for you, for ONS, for the entire nursing profession, and now for ANCC’s Magnet recognition program.
Well-being has long been a priority for the American Nurses Association (ANA), ANCC’s parent organization. Now, the ANA Enterprise asks healthcare institutions to join its commitment, making foundational support of nurses’ well-being an application requirement in its 2023 Magnet Application Manual. Nurse well-being is essential at both the organizational and unit levels, and Magnet-designated organizations’ nurse leaders must advocate for and acquire resources to support nurses’ well-being through strategic planning and involving both leaders and nurses in direct patient care across the organization.
ONS’s well-being resources support you, personally and professionally, and your organization on its journey to Magnet recognition.
ONS Learning Libraries
Collections of topic-specific content curated to catalog education and resources on a similar topic.
View All Learning LibrariesNurse Well-Being Learning Library Gold Sponsor
Thank you to Astellas for their sponsorship of the ONS Nurse Well-Being Learning Library.