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With healthcare organizations scrambling to fill vacant nursing positions, and nurses unhappy with their present jobs, it is time to seriously examine how to support the healing process of our wounded nurses. Conti-O'Hare (2002) used the term the Walking Wounded, originally from Greek mythology, to describe the process or journey needed to develop resilience. Self-Development is the journey required to heal the pain and suffering and emerge as a Wounded Healer. Resilience is defined as the ability to face adverse situations, remain focused, and continue to be optimistic about the future (Kester & Wei, 2018). The journey to resilience includes recognizing, transforming, and transcending the traumatic pain experienced or anger, emotional problems, substance abuse, job dissatisfaction, and burnout will occur. The work environment will be spoken of as a negative experience.
Going through the Self-Development process for ourselves allows the Wounded Healer to be able to empathetically sit with the suffering of others and therapeutically use self as an instrument of healing. We use the term burnout to describe the Walking Wounded nurses that are depleted in body, mind, and spirit. What the nurse may be experiencing and calling burnout may be attributed to grief and loss as witnessed especially during the pandemic. With grief and loss, or burnout, comes attitudes of negativity towards the organizations they work for and a lack of interest in being engaged in new ideas and opportunities for positive change. Of course, this also extends into a nurse's everyday life. One nurse stated, "I told my manager that I thought I was experiencing burnout, and she told me to go practice self-care and get a manicure."
It is apparent that the concept of self-care is not well understood. Self-Care is one component of the Self-Development process that includes: SelfAssessment, Self-Reflection, Self-Evaluation, and Self-Care. The key is understanding that it is an integral process, a journey that should begin early in life,...