NURS 478 Self Care Journal

Your Name: Julia Lafferty Your Buddy: Tori Hyson

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

1 time):
This week, I had 473 clinical on Tuesday and Thursday, and 473/478 lectures on
9/19 Wednesday. In addition, I had work on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I work from
8:30pm to 2:30am. This made it difficult to get 7 hours of sleep on Tuesday night
before Wednesday’s lecture at 10am. I managed to get about 6 hours on Tuesday
night. Otherwise, I’ve been able to get at least 7 hours of sleep all other nights.

Comments on Activity:
This is a good activity for me to try to accomplish because I’m a big night owl but
need to learn to go to sleep earlier, when possible. I’m a bit worried about getting 7
hours of sleep once my preceptorship starts. My preceptor works three 12s in a row
and Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital (SCVRH) is 40-45 min away from my
apartment. I probably won’t get home until 8 or later, I’ll have homework and lecture
to catch up on before I can go to sleep. I’ll need to wake up by 5am on preceptorship
days to assure I have enough time to get ready, eat, and have coffee before my long
drive to SCVRH.
Week Description of intervention implemented this week (include frequency/length of
2 time):
This week, I had work on four nights: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. In
9/26 addition, I had N473 clinicals on Tuesday and Thursday, N478 lecture Wednesday
morning, and N473 Exam 1 on Wednesday afternoon. I only got about 5 hours of
sleep on Tuesday night, which is not ideal especially since I had my N473 Exam on
Wednesday. All other nights, I was able to sleep at least 7 hours.

Comments on Activity:
As I figured, it’s nearly impossible for me to get at least 7 hours of sleep every single
night of the week because I work at night and don’t get to sleep until about 3:30am
those nights. However, Tuesday’s are really the only days that I cannot get 7 hours if I
work, and I don’t work every Tuesday.

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

It is hard to be able to get an adequate amount of sleep in nursing school, especially
while working full time and still attending class and doing assignments. Do your
best!!

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

3 time):
This week, I started my preceptorship and worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and
10/3 Thursday. We also had a 478 Midterm exam at 0800 on Wednesday that I spent
several late nights studying. On Friday, I traveled for 14 hours to northern California
for a wedding. Needless to say, it was difficult to get good sleep this week. I got about
6 hours of sleep the nights before and after preceptorship days, but on Thursday night,
I only got about 4 or 5 since I had to wake up super early for my flight on Friday.

Comments on Activity:
My sleep schedule was definitely messed up this week since it was super busy. I can
tell that getting sufficient sleep between my preceptorship and class will be difficult.
It’s especially difficult since it takes me about 40 minutes to drive to SCVRH each
way.
 Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
We discussed the changes in our moods when we get decreased sleep and talked
about how we often lose sleep when traveling. It is more difficult for you because of
the location of your preceptorship, but hopefully you can find a way to still get some
sleeping hours in.

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

4 time):
Although I did have preceptorship on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I was home
10/10 from the wedding with plenty of time on Sunday to reorganize, get caught up. I was
able to almost fully implement the selected intervention of 7 hours of sleep before and
after a day of work/school.

Comments on Activity:
This week was a bit more successful in getting more sleep. I quit my job this week,
which messed up my sleep schedule because I used to work 8pm to 3am. I think not
having that job anymore will allow me to better implement the intervention of 7 full
hours of sleep.

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

We talked about how Sundays are always the best days to catch up on work, as well
as sleep, on. This week you felt far better than the last due to increased sleep duration.

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

5 time):
I was able to implement the intervention of 7 hours of sleep before and after a day of
10/17 preceptorship/ school. I had preceptorship on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

Comments on Activity:
I’m usually so exhausted after preceptorship that I fall asleep immediately once I get
home, which helps me get my full 7 hours of sleep. I also think that not having to
work that job anymore also helps so much. I now have more time to focus on school,
myself, my friends, and getting sufficient sleep.
 Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
We talked about how tired we are after our 12 hour shifts when we get home. It is
nice having them back-to-back to be able to fully catch up on sleep the rest of the
week.

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

6 time):
On Sunday night, I was able to sleep for 8 hours of sleep. On Monday, Tuesday, and
10/24 Wednesday nights I only got about 6 hours because of preceptorship. On Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, I was able to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

Comments on Activity:
This week was super busy because of preceptorship and Halloween. We also had
N473 Exam 2 on Wednesday so I was busy studying for that too. Quitting my job was
the best thing I could have done for myself to help improve my sleep and have better
success implementing this intervention of 7 hours of sleep each night.

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

We discussed how hard it has been during nursing school to be able to balance sleep,
school, and a social life. Both of us tried adding work into the mix at times and it was
really difficult on us.

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

7 time):
On Sunday and Monday, I only slept for 6 hours because of preceptorship. I was able
10/31 to get 8 hours of sleep on Tuesday night. Wednesday and Thursday I only got 6 hours
again because of preceptorship and my leadership shadowing experience. On Friday
and Saturday, I got 8 hours of sleep.

Comments on Activity:
This week was busy again because it was the last of my preceptorship and I also had
to squeeze my leadership shadowing experience in there as well, so I was at SCVRH
four days this week. This made implementing 7 hours of sleep a night difficult. Now
that my preceptorship is over, I’ll have a lot more time to do homework, projects,
apply for jobs, and get better/more sleep.
 Buddy Check-In Comments: (Note Key Comments from Conversation)
We talked about how much more productive we are when we get to have a longer
duration of sleep. This has been important for us to track because at times we do not
realize how little sleep we are actually getting.

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

8 time):
I was finally able to sleep 7 hours each night this week.
11/7
Comments on Activity:
It was much easier to get good sleep this week because preceptorship is over. Driving
to Green Valley for my preceptorship took about 1.5 hours out of my day each
preceptorship day and that ate away at my sleep time. I felt much more rested this
week once I’d been able to sleep for a full 7+ hours.

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?

I’ve always known that getting sufficient sleep is important for my overall health, but
I never truly realized just how little sleep I get, especially since I began nursing
school. When I get insufficient sleep, I feel more stressed/anxious, groggy, irritable,
and have a hard time focusing. The few times I was able to get 7 full hours of sleep, I
felt much more rested and energized, and was able to focus in school/on work better.

Have you noticed any changes in your life since you began this intervention?
I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. I wish I had been able to sleep 7+ hours each
night over the past 8 weeks, but my preceptorship made it very difficult. It’s a 40-45
minute drive each way and that took a lot of time out of my days. I was actually
getting more sleep prior to this project, not because the intervention was bad, rather
just poor timing with when my preceptorship was scheduled in comparison to the
timeline of this project/journal.

Will you do anything differently now? Please explain.

Now that preceptorship is over, I’m trying to get back into the groove of 7+ hours of
sleep each night. I know that sufficient sleep makes me feel more awake, focused, and
alert throughout the day.

Comments/suggestions: I think this journal and intervention would have been more
successful if I was able to do it during the first half of the semester when I did not
have my preceptorship.

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.

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.

Strongl Agree Neutral Disagre Strongl

y e y
Agree Disagre
e

1 2 3 4 5