SMART Goals For Nursing Self-Care

SMART Goals for Nursing Self-Care Nursing is a demanding and often stressful profession. Nurses can experience and get caught up in busy workloads, long hours, physical labor and emotional strain on a daily basis. As health promoters it can be surprising that nurses are found neglecting their own health. Nurses should be practicing the same health care practices they promote for their patients. This important practice is deemed self-care and it is an essential part of creating trust with patients. It also keeps nurses healthy and better equipped to serve our patients. Stress is all around us and there is no escaping stress in our everyday lives. With my busy school and work schedule it is imperative to learn how to manage my stress through self-care. The best way to do this is to create SMART goals, in other words, goals that are specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. It is my intention to improve my self-care techniques by creating two goals around mindfulness and exercise. Adding these goals into my schedule will set me up for future success and stress reduction during my time as a nursing student. …show more content…
Stress is a precursor to disease and has damaging effects on the body including blood pressure, immune function and chronic fatigue. The ultimate goal of self-care is the reduction of stressors and the prevention of burnout. Taking care of one’s wellbeing includes aspects of mindfulness, exercise, and practicing a healthy diet (Blum, 2014). Self-care is multidimensional and should also take into consideration mental and emotional health when trying to maintain life