Addressing the 2021 Essentials with new approaches for developing leadership, resilience, and self-care/well-being in undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students

Introduction

New graduate nurses are not always prepared for the challenges of the chaotic clinical environment or to exercise leadership skills in a clinical capacity. Resilience and self-care are essential facets of successful leadership, as well as necessary components to prevent burnout in nurses.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how this School of Nursing implemented approaches to prepare the next generation of nurses with strong skills in the areas of leadership, resilience, and self-care/well-being while addressing the Essentials.

Methods

Faculty explored new ideas, as well as showcased teaching strategies they had already successfully implemented, that aligned with the Essentials with the undergraduate baccalaureate pilot student cohort.

Results

Two “Essential” Competencies, Domain 9 Professionalism and Domain 10 Personal, Professional and Leadership Development, as well as related sub-competencies, were addressed by the thirteen teaching strategies. Anecdotal student reflection comments supported high levels of satisfaction with these strategies.

Conclusions

Preparing student nurses to meet the Essentials is critical to helping nurses thrive in contemporary practice settings. Equipping a generation of nurses with self-care practices to protect their own well-being, while at the same time meeting the Essentials expectations, is crucial to cultivating a sustainable nursing workforce.