ALTOONA, Pa. — When it comes to burnout, nursing students and healthcare professionals are victims of mental health struggles at the highest rate.
Ross Nese and Carol Nese College of Nursing Dean Laurie Bazek discussed mental health issues for students during a visit to the Penn State Athletics facility last year to get ideas for future renovations to the Nursing Sciences Building. Inspired by this whiteboard with tips and tricks about. This article is for athletes and written by fellow student-athletes.
The Wellness Committee brought together all student-athletes to help each other and brainstorm what habits would improve their mental health. Each participant was able to write down their own practice on sticky notes. I could then paste it on a whiteboard for everyone in the building to read and see, and hopefully inspire others to implement it.
Soon after, a variation of mental health resources sprung up at the university to help nursing students find new avenues to reduce feelings of burnout and increase resilience. Although the idea was born in University Park, Penn State Altoona quickly adopted the same practice and created its own Wellness Committee.
Mental wellness suggestion boards have been launched on both campuses and the results have been amazing. The bulletin board was lined with dozens of sticky notes with best practices for students to prevent stress and burnout.
“We care about what’s going on and we know they’re stressed,” said Amy Cristello, a nursing instructor at Penn State Altoona. “We try to have a positive impact and give them time to think outside of ‘when’s my next test?'”
Professor Cristello was delighted to see the interaction with the board and encouraged all nursing students to take the time to solicit ideas from their colleagues.
“They had all kinds of things in there.” [ideas] We went to four or five different groups and they didn’t hesitate,” Cristello said.
Another goal is to maintain a wellness committee on every campus so that resources are available to students wherever they are, Cristello said.
The Wellness Committee is part of the MINDSTRONG program, a larger initiative within the university. The program is a seven-week course delivered by trained facilitators that helps students develop coping mechanisms for stress, anxiety, depression, etc. in preparation for their future as nurses. Masu.
Tessa Hampton, an Altoona BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) student, has taken a variety of lessons from the Wellness Board and MINDSTRONG training, and will use what she learns throughout her professional career.
“The stigma of struggling in nursing school has been removed, because everyone wants to get perfect grades and be the best version of themselves. But that’s not really possible without inner health. ,” Hampton said.
Going forward, the university hopes to make MINDSTRONG mandatory throughout the nursing curriculum and student body and continue to expand resources for mental health support.
