NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: Troy Schmidt Your Buddy: Michael Manns

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
Ran for 30 minutes on Sunday, September 1
Ran for 30 minutes on Saturday, September 7

Comments on Activity:

I make it a priority to run at least twice per week. Because this is something I already do, choosing to
run for 60 minutes each week for the self-care journal should be an easy commitment for me.

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

2
Ran for 40 minutes on Wednesday, September 11
Ran for 50 minutes on Saturday, September 14

Comments on Activity:

This was the first week of my preceptorship where I managed all of the care that my patient received.
While this was rewarding, it was also stressful and running helped me to feel grounded and clear
headed.

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

I checked in with Michael for the first time this week so that we could share our progress and thoughts
on our interventions. We have both decided to use running as our self-care activity. We agreed that
running helps us to relieve stress and elevates our mood. I told him that I gain mental clarity from
running and I sleep better on days that I run.

M O’C Fall 2018

 Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
3
Ran for 60 minutes on Friday, September 20
Ran for 40 minutes on Saturday, September 21

Comments on Activity:

Running continues to be an activity that I look forward to each week and I have started to try out new
routes around my house. I usually listen to music when I run and next week I want to try running
without music to see if I have a different experience.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Michael and I are still sticking to our self-care interventions and we continue to feel that they are
helping us to destress. We appreciate having a healthy outlet that gives us both a break from
schoolwork and clinical. He is running for his intervention as well so I want to ask him if he would be
interested in running with me once our schedules open up.

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

4
Ran for 30 minutes on Wednesday, September 25
Ran for 40 minutes on Friday, September 27
Ran for 40 minutes on Saturday, September 28
Comments on Activity:

I am looking forward to running more often after my preceptorship ends. I usually only have the time to
run twice per week and I would like to run closer to three to four times per week. I am also looking to
increase the distance of my runs.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Michael enjoyed playing basketball with friends at the recreation center for his self-care activity. I
joined him during this time and invited other friends from the cohort to meet us there. We played for
about two hours and agreed that we should meet to play basketball more often.

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

5
Ran for 30 minutes on Wednesday, October 2
Ran for 20 minutes on Thursday, October 3
Ran for 40 minutes on Saturday, October 5
Comments on Activity:

This was the last week of my preceptorship and I was required to flip my schedule and work one night
shift on the last day. I ran on Thursday night after my shift in hopes that it would energize me and help
me stay up late into early Friday morning. The run helped me stay awake long enough so that I could
flip my schedule to nights and wake up late in the afternoon so I could be ready for my shift.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

M O’C Fall 2018

 I told Michael that I am excited to run more consistently now that my preceptorship is over and my
schedule is regular. His preceptorship has also ended and he agreed that the extra time will help him to
stick with his self-care intervention.

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

6
Ran for 30 minutes on Tuesday, October 8
Ran for 30 minutes on Friday, October 11

Comments on Activity:

I did not run as much as I had planned to for this week. I got busy with volunteering and visiting with
family which I found to be energizing in its own way. Although I only ran twice this week, I was able
to play soccer on Saturday afternoon.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

Michael continues to run for his self-care activity although he did not run this week because he took a
trip out-of-state. We both enjoy the cooler weather in the evenings as it makes it easier to run. I think
that we have found this assignment helpful in building healthy habits that we can carry with us as we
begin our careers.

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

7
Ran for 30 minutes on Sunday, October 13
Ran for 25 minutes on Monday, October 14
Ran for 30 minutes on Saturday, October 19
Comments on Activity:

Although I still enjoy running as my self-care activity, there are nights where I find it difficult to find
motivation. There are times where I feel as though I could use the mental benefits that come from
running while being too tired physically to commit to a run.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)

I shared with Michael that the greatest obstacle I have to running more frequently is not feeling like I
have the energy to complete a run. We looked back at the past seven weeks of this journal and noticed
that I will go for runs that usually last 30 minutes or longer. He suggested that I could compromise by
shortening the distance of the run on days where I lack energy for a longer run. This way I can still get
the mental benefit of running without exhausting myself.

M O’C Fall 2018

 Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
8
Ran for 60 minutes on Tuesday, October 22
Ran for 40 minutes on Thursday, October 24
Ran for 20 minutes on Friday, October 25

Comments on Activity:

I ran without listening to music this week. It was refreshing to be more in tune with my surroundings
and more aware of what I was thinking and feeling as I ran. I anticipate that I will start to run more
without listening to music. This is the last week of my self-care journal and I am happy with the
progress that I have made. Being able to record my thoughts about running has helped me to
understand how important it is to me and provides further encouragement for keeping up with it in the
future.
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?

Completing this self-care journal reinforced my belief that running is important for both my physical
and mental health. I also experimented during this time by running without music which I appreciated
as an alternative to my usual routine of running with music. It has been a goal of mine for many years
to work up to marathon distances and I think keeping track of my progress in a journal would help me to
reach this goal. I plan on keeping a log of my runs as I continue to use running for self-care.

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

I was used to running regularly before completing this self-care journal, so my behaviors did not
change. However, I did see the benefit in keeping a record of my running so that I can see progress over
time. I will start to keep a log of my runs in hopes that it will help me to run more consistently and
improve as a runner overall.

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

I plan on gradually increasing the lengths of my runs and will keep a log of my runs.

Comments/suggestions:

I found this self-care journal helpful in that it revealed how much I ran compared to how much I wished
I ran. Writing down your habits is a powerful way to enact change and identify areas for improvement.

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

M O’C Fall 2018

 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

M O’C Fall 2018