NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: Ashley Nickell________________________ Your Buddy: Juliana Aldrich_________________

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
X 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 I have decided to implement moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine at least five days per
week. I jogged Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday for 30 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
Because it has been a while since my last episode of being in shape, I began with interval
jogging/walking for each of this week’s workouts. I found that this was a good transition into this
running journey and found it to be more tolerable on my body. After the first three days of jogging, I
was very sore. However, I knew this meant my body was getting stronger. I feel well-satisfied at the end
of this week.
Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
2 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 30-35 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
I found that having the weekend off was refreshing on Sunday, so I decided to run on weekdays this
week. It allowed me to have a plan in place rather than deciding each morning if today was a running
day or not. This structure was good for me. I jogged for 3 min intervals and walked for 1 min intervals,
which was an accomplishment for me. I can tell I am improving in my stamina.

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

This week we discussed beginning our interventions and also why we chose to complete our specific
interventions. Since it has only been the second week neither of us had too many difficulties struggling.
However, my buddy mentioned that her work schedule can sometimes impact her sleep.

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Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of time):
3 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 35-40 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
This week, I was not motivated to jog. I felt very busy and it felt like a chore to do. However, I knew I
had to for this assignment. This, and my buddy, held me accountable to continuing this commitment. I
continued to job for 3 mins and walk for 1, as that works well for me. I chose to increase the length of
my workouts, now averaging at about 39 minutes each time. I felt proud of myself for running this week
even though I didn’t want to.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
It was especially helpful to check in with my buddy this week due to my decreasing motivation. She
expressed that she also found it difficult at times to try and stick to her intervention. However, we both
agreed that having this assignment provided us with a level of accountability in addition to having to
perform these check-ins with one another. Ultimately, we are continuing to stick to our interventions as
much as possible.

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

4 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 30 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
This week, I decided to challenge myself by jogging without walking for 30 minutes straight. I was
shocked that I was able to make it 22 minutes Monday, 24 minutes Tuesday, 21 minutes Wednesday, 27
minutes Thursday, and 30 minutes Friday of straight jogging. I walked the remaining minutes that I felt
I needed a break from jogging at the end. Overall, I am well satisfied with my work this week. I feel
confident that this helped me with my mental barriers of not thinking I could handle long bouts of
running at a time. I hope to continue to improve next week and am considering doing this challenge
again the last week.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
My buddy was very supportive and happy to hear about my progress. I occasionally felt down about not
being able to continue jogging towards the very end, but my buddy reassured me I had made excellent
progress. This was motivating to hear. My buddy expressed to me that her intervention was not going as
well this week due to her night shift preceptorship schedule. I recommended a few items to her such as a
sound machine.

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

5 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 40-45 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
I feel that last week greatly helped me. I can tell that I am not mentally stronger when it comes to
running. I think a large component of becoming better is the mental blocks that I have to push through,
which I did last week. I found that I had a better attitude this week when getting ready to go jogging and
looked forward to most of the workouts. I continued with intervals of jogging for 3 minutes and walking
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 for 1 minute. I am excited about my progress in length of workouts.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
My buddy was very happy for me and proud of me for sticking to this intervention and finding time to
do so, especially since the temperature is still pretty high at times. She even mentioned that we should
try going running and preforming my intervention together. We thought this would be a great way to
spend time with one another and get some exercise in.

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

6 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 45-50 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
I felt extremely tired this week. I spent lots of time at work and did not want to spend my little amount
of free time running. Most of the workouts I had to rely on encouragement from Juliana to get myself
out of the door. I am struggling with not wanting to workout but once I am about 10 minutes into the
run I always feel glad I am doing it. This week I worked on my mental dedication to this commitment
even when it felt like a burden to do. I continued with intervals of 3 mins jogging and 1 minute walking.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
Juliana had suggested that I listen to some music before and during my run to help motivate me and get
me going. I think I am going to try this next time depending on my level of motivation and see how it
goes.

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

7 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 50-55 minutes each time.

Comments on Activity:
I continued to do interval training this week, with 3 minutes spent running followed by 1 minute spent
walking. It was much better than last week. Although I was more excited to exercise this week, it was
not easy physically. The increase in time was apparent this week. Around 45 minutes, I really want to
stop. However, each of the days I pushed myself to reach at least 50 minutes and always felt proud of
myself once I did it. I love the feeling of accomplishment after a good day of working out. I strive to use
this feeling to encourage myself when I am wanting to not do a workout or stop in the middle of one.
Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
Juliana and I were able to celebrate nearly reaching the end of our interventions and also the end of her
preceptorship. We discussed how this assignment really allowed us to analyze our habits and determine
what we struggled with. We also talked about how important it was to have one another for both
encouragement and reassurance when our interventions became tough.

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

8 I am implementing moderate-intensity exercise into my daily routine five days per week. I jogged
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for at least 30 minutes each time.
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 Comments on Activity:
I decided to challenge myself again, this time increasing the challenge for myself. I knew that I was
capable of running for 30 minutes physically. It was more of a mental challenge than anything. I was
able to hit at least 30 minutes each of the days, averaging at 32 minutes. I was extremely proud of
myself at the end of this week. I know that my consistency and mental resilience were large components
in completing this last week of workouts successfully. I am glad I decided to challenge myself.
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?

These activities taught me that I am mentally and physically stronger than I thought. I did not think that
I would follow through with eight weeks of this, nor did I think I would be running any longer than 35
minutes at a time.

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

I have noticed an increase in confidence. I feel more capable of doing things, as I have been proving to
myself that I am capable of more than I think.

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

I will continue to implement five workouts per week. This assignment allowed me to create a great habit
that I hope to continue for a while.

Comments/suggestions:

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.

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 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

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