APHON Self-Care Resources

Self-Care & Resiliency Resources

We know the effect that stress has on our immune system and how that, in turn, affects our ability to be physically resilient. We must also tend to our emotional resiliency and commit to caring for our whole selves. Please take the time to care for yourself during this time.

Here are some easy ways to do so:

Please consider engaging in the APHON self-care member community to dialogue with others about personal resilience during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Engaging in mindfulness and meditative practices can redirect fear and anxiety to gratitude and peace. Digital resources include the HeartMath Institute, Well-being Index, and Calm.
Headspace is a terrific app featuring guided meditations, animations, articles, and videos. They want all users to think of them as your mind’s best friends. Headspace helps you create life-changing habits to support your mental health and find a healthier, happier you through science-backed meditation and mindfulness tools.
Do not hesitate to reach out to your institution’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which can offer another level of support. Many counselors and therapists have a virtual visit option, so review your health plan to see if these services are included.
Ten Percent Happier is an app that also offers mindful meditation.
Insight Timer is a diverse platform with 45,000 free guided meditations, bringing together meditation and mindfulness teachers, psychologists, and other mental health experts worldwide.
The Moodfit app provides tools and insight to improve the fitness of your mind. Tools include mood tracking, gratitude journal, mindfulness meditation, breathing exercises, etc. Thanks to a grant from The American Nurses Foundation, nurses have access to the full premium version of Moodfit at NO cost.
Happy app has partnered with the American Nurses Foundation to bring relief and support to nurses. An easy-to-use smartphone app connects the Happy Support Giver team to nurses in need of emotional support. Nurses have 24/7, on-demand access to this service and can speak one-on-one with a Support Giver team member. FREE!
Nursing Centered, Sigma’s online resource center, combines articles, member stories, videos, webinars, and podcasts to create an engaging experience. This mixed-media platform shares stories and nursing information from Sigma nurses and chapters worldwide, from their view, in their voices.

Building Resiliency

Building resiliency can help during intense stress. Dr. Lucy Hone provides essential tools in her Ted Talk, The Three Secrets of Resilient People. Not only is she a resiliency researcher, but she was forced to take her own advice after experiencing a personal tragedy.
TED Talk: The Cure for Burnout (hint: it isn’t self-care): You may be experiencing burnout and not even know it, say authors (and sisters) Emily and Amelia Nagoski. In a reflective and profoundly relatable conversation, they detail three telltale signs that stress is getting the best of you — and share actionable ways to feel safe in your own body when you’re burning out. (This conversation, hosted by TED curator Cloe Shasha Brooks, is part of TED’s “How to Deal with Difficult Feelings” series.)
The University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for UW Medicine’s healthcare managers created a Psychological First Aid Kit. It is based on World Health Organization’s Psychological First Aid: Guide for Field Workers and Psychological First Aid Adapted for the Ebola Outbreak. It is a guide to identifying distress, taking supportive measures at the moment, and building resiliency during a crisis.
The National Academy of Medicine provides access to various established tools to measure work-related dimensions of well-being.
The Washington Center for Nursing produced Self Care for Nurses, a Matter of Life & Death, a series of short videos reflecting how nurses can manage stress even in the most challenging times. Topics include exercise, nutrition, sleep, therapy, acceptance, and more.

Books

Daring Greatly, Brené Brown
Braving the Wilderness, Brené Brown
You are a Badass, Jen Sincero
Finding Meaning, David Kessler
Burnout, Amelia Nagoski, and Emily Nagoski
The Bullet Journal Method, Ryder Carroll
One Word, Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon
The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz
Why won’t you Apologize, Harriet Lerner
Untamed, Glennon Doyle

Podcasts

Unlocking Us with Brené Brown — Conversations that unlock the profoundly human part of who we are so that we can live, love, parent, and lead with more courage and heart.
Dare to Lead with Brené Brown — Conversations with change-catalysts, culture-shifters, and more than a few troublemakers who are innovating, creating, and daring to lead.
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos — You might think more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations would make you happy. You’re dead wrong. In “The Happiness Lab” podcast, Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will forever alter how you think about happiness.
Shift Talk, episode 4 — APHON Member Michelle Schuster and co-author Tricia Dwyer discuss the difference between PTSD and burnout.