Self-Care in Nursing Education

The term self-care recently became more commonly associated with stressors due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Simultaneously, improving mental health of students and faculty also became a more topical issue in academia, with self-care being used to describe routine practices that alleviate stress and improve scholarly performance. Faculty are called to provide role modeling early in nursing programs to enhance the psychological well-being of future nurses that may have lasting effects throughout their careers (^{Wei et al., 2020}).

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (²⁰²¹) defines self-care as “the daily process of being aware of and attending to one's basic physiological and emotional needs and the foundation for physical and emotional wellness to prevent mental health, occupational, or educational burnout” (para. 1). Domain 10 of the AACN's The Essentials: Competencies for Professional Education recommends that entry- and advanced-level students demonstrate a commitment to their personal health and well-being. The World Health Organization (WHO) (²⁰²⁴) describes self-care as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker” (para 1). Self-care also includes activities that help individuals live well and improve their physical and mental health (^{National Institute of Mental Health, 2021}). Additionally, the American Nurses Association (^{ANA, 2015}) supports self-care initiatives. The literature also supports the core principle of Dorothea Orem's self-care deficit theory (SCDT) as serving as an appropriate theoretical framework that can guide self-care goals (^{Hartweg & Metcalfe, 2022}).

This study explored the types of self-care goals recommended by College of Nursing faculty during their annual performance review. A survey was developed based on the premise of Orem's SCDT that individuals freely and deliberately undertake actions to sustain their well-being and quality of life. Orem identified the following two steps: (1) identifying and prioritizing unmet self-care needs and deficits; and (2) selecting methods of assisting the individual to overcome identified self-care deficits (^{Hartweg & Metcalfe, 2022}).

Background

Psychological distress has been reported in higher education, with students indicating it can play a role in academic performance and adjustment (^{Charlton & Wofford, 2022}). Common reported...