The Year of the Healthy Nurse
Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) is excited to join the nation in celebrating National Nurses Week. This year’s theme as set by the American Nurses Association is “Nursing: The Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit.”
As an institution of higher learning, we wanted to see how our faculty, staff and students take an active approach to work-life balance or fit.
We asked our DUSON community to share their personal stories in balancing life:
Maria Kidner, DNP, worked with the DUSON Office of Global & Community Health Initiatives in the Duke University School of Nursing/Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program as a nurse mentor/clinical preceptor in adult health at Kibungo Hospital in 2014. Her go-to activity to combat stress is painting.
“Painting is something I’ve done for decades, and during my time in Rwanda my patients from Wyoming sent me paints and brushes,” she said. “However, in Rwanda the canvas was very expensive and hard to get, so I painted on walls.”
Kidner taught others in Rwanda to paint, and together they completed 15 large murals. She continues to paint today to decrease stress and ponder wonderful times. She has also started a paint course for nurses to allow participants to consider their soul and professional identity through the symbolism of an African picture that they paint.
In addition to painting, Kidner also backpacks. “Painting is my stress balancer and spirit. Backpacking is for my body and mind,” she added.
Staff members Jennifer Chamberlain, financial analyst, and Jennifer Meyer Dare, senior DNP program coordinator, team up for exercise as part of their work-life balance. “One of our exercise routines is working with a trainer in a weekly group session, where we get to work on strength training and endurance, including boxing,” said Chamberlain.
Dare added: “Physical activity is important for work-life balance, and we love it. Boxing has become our favorite, so much so that we purchased our own gloves.”
MSN student Adrienne Smith, RN, MPH, also uses exercise to balance her demanding schedule of family, school and work. The single mother of four exercises for one hour three times a week. She participates in a boot camp that she credits with keeping her sane, focused, healthy, agile and grateful. In the two years that she’s participated in the camp, Smith has lost 81 pounds!
She depends on her family to help her maintain this balance. “I look to my children sometimes to help with responsibilities around the home. They will cook, clean and wash and fold clothes to help mom out!” Smith said. “Another way we keep balance is attending weekly bible study on Wednesday nights. I thank the Lord daily for my overall health and strength to persevere.”
In addition, Smith balances her career by never taking on more work than she knows she can handle. “I am currently on the ethics committee at my job, and I have no time to work overtime, so I pick and choose ways to contribute to my unit.”
In the end, Smith said her ultimate goal in life is to leave a legacy behind for her family, and she hopes they will do even greater with their lives than she did with hers.
Health care practitioners and administrators are under a lot of pressure; therefore, it’s important for the caregiver to also care for themselves. It’s hard to be your best when you’re exhausted and unbalanced.
Join other nurses around the country in taking a moment to step off the busy treadmill of life and invest some time to infuse meaning, joy and restoration into your practice and life.
If you didn’t get a chance to share how you create a work-life balance or fit, then head over to our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages and share your stories with us.
Happy National Nurses Week, and thank you for all you do!