Strategies for Better Emotional Health for Nurses

This document discusses strategies for better emotional health for nurses and how it can improve the quality of care. It explores the impact of stress on nurses and the importance of mental health. The document also provides resources and a proposed method for implementation.

Running head: LEARNING CONTRACT
Strategies for Better Emotional Health for Nurses
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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LEARNING CONTRACT
Clinical Area of Interest
Strategies for Better Emotional Health for Nurses
The majority of the nurses reported of experiencing occupational stress in the work
environment. Stress is highlighted as an outcome of stressful workplace environment and
tasks. Increased level of stress and emotional turmoil affects the behavior of the nursing
professionals. Hamper in the quality of life of the nursing professionals negatively impacts
their professionals performance while increasing the level of job dissatisfaction and absences
from work (Tajvar et al., 2015). Nurses in the emergency department come across patients
with traumatic physical injuries and mental health injury in the mental health ward. These
disturbing exposures increase the level of emotional turmoil and psycho-spiritual distress
leading to the generation of compassion fatigue. The turmoil in the mental health arising out
of compassion fatigue leads to increase chances of the medication error, decrease in the
quality of care and increase in the nurse turnover. Thus mental health status of the nursing
professionals must be taken under active consideration in order to improve the overall quality
of care (Harris & Griffin, 2015).
Conceptual Reflective Framework
Reflection on Action: Gibbs Reflective Cycle
According to Husebø, O'Regan and Nestel (2015) Gibbs Reflective Cycle is a popular
model of reflection in the nursing practice. Consist of six different stages. The first stage
include description of the events, followed by feelings, evaluation of the entire scenario based
on what was good and what went wrong. This will be followed by the critical analysis of the
of the situation from the present day perspective, conclusion and the action plan in order to
improve the overall outcome. The selection of the Gibbs Reflective Cycle will help to

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LEARNING CONTRACT
analyze the clinical project proposed for the mental health promotion among the nursing
professionals.
Learning Objectives
 Increase level of resilience among the nursing professionals along with reduction in
the burnout/compassion fatigue
 Reduction in the chances of the medication errors and improved quality of care
 Increase in the level of job satisfaction and improvement in the skills of the effective
stress management
 Effective development of inter-personal communication skills among the co-workers
or other members of the multidisciplinary team in order to improve effective co-
ordination and improving the level of care by reducing stress
Resources
Human Resource
The nurse manager, the hospital administrative authority head, and a senior mental
health nurse will be involved in the project.
Human Resource Expertise Rational
Nurse Manager or Nurse
Leader
Executing proper skills of the
transformational leadership
According to Hutchinson and
Jackson (2013), a
transformational nursing leader
under the healthcare settings
promote team-work by
encouraging positive self-
esteem and motivating them

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LEARNING CONTRACT
with high level of performance.
The positive motivation will
help to reduce the level of stress
while improving the mental
health
Hospital Administrative
authority
Having a detailed understanding about
the nurse : patient ratio and facilities
important for the nurses to execute the
their work
Having a proper balance in the
nurse to patient ratio helps to
reduce the level of stress among
the nurses and thereby assisting
against their mental health
improvement (Lin et al., 2014)
Senior mental healthcare
nurse
Skills in effective management of
stress and counseling
Proper guidance for the
effective management of stress
along with proper mental health
counseling helps to improve the
mental health status of the
nursing professionals. Moreover
mindfulness based stress
intervention help in reducing
stress among the nurses (Dobie
et al., 2016)
Literary Resources
The main literary resources that will be important in order to execute this plan is the
mindfulness-based stress reduction. According to Gu et al. (2015) mindfulness based stress
reduction therapy and mindfulness based cognitive therapy helps uncover the psychological

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gaps in handling the stress and thereby helping to draft two-stage structural equation model in
order overcome mental health consequences with a person centered approach.
Other Resources
Additional requirement in order to implement the emotional well-being among the
nursing professional include power-point presentation in order to educate the nurses about the
importance of the mental health. According to Cleary et al. (2013) educating the nursing
professionals about the importance of the mental health and effective management of stress
under the hospital settings with the help of the power-point presentation helps to promote
effective mental health recovery under the acute care setting.
Proposed Method
Proper financial planning
Human resource management
Drafting the framework for the implementation of the plan through mindfulness based
intervention for mental health recovery and awareness program
Proposed Timeline
Tasks Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
Timeline for
planning
Timeline for
financial
planning and
obtaining grant

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LEARNING CONTRACT
Timeline for
acquiring the
main
stakeholder
Timeline for
the
implementation
of the strategy
Evaluation of
the outcome

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LEARNING CONTRACT
References
Cleary, M., Horsfall, J., O'Hara‐Aarons, M., & Hunt, G. E. (2013). Mental health nurses’
views of recovery within an acute setting. International Journal of Mental Health
Nursing, 22(3), 205-212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0349.2012.00867.x
Dobie, A., Tucker, A., Ferrari, M., & Rogers, J. M. (2016). Preliminary evaluation of a brief
mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention for mental health
professionals. Australasian Psychiatry, 24(1), 42-45.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856215618524
Gu, J., Strauss, C., Bond, R., & Cavanagh, K. (2015). How do mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing?
A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clinical psychology
review, 37, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006
Harris, C., & Griffin, M. T. Q. (2015). Nursing on empty: Compassion fatigue signs,
symptoms, and system interventions. Journal of Christian Nursing, 32(2), 80-87. doi:
10.1097/CNJ.0000000000000155
Husebø, S. E., O'Regan, S., & Nestel, D. (2015). Reflective practice and its role in
simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), 368-375.
ttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2015.04.005
Hutchinson, M., & Jackson, D. (2013). Transformational leadership in nursing: towards a
more critical interpretation. Nursing inquiry, 20(1), 11-22.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12006

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Lin, S. H., Liao, W. C., Chen, M. Y., & Fan, J. Y. (2014). The impact of shift work on nurses'
job stress, sleep quality and self‐perceived health status. Journal of nursing
management, 22(5), 604-612. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12020
Tajvar, A., Saraji, G. N., Ghanbarnejad, A., Omidi, L., Hosseini, S. S. S., & Abadi, A. S. S.
(2015). Occupational stress and mental health among nurses in a medical intensive
care unit of a general hospital in Bandar Abbas in 2013. Electronic physician, 7(3),
1108. doi: 10.14661/2015.1108-1113