HJNO Jan/Feb 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  JAN / FEB 2021 41 Karen C. Lyon, PhD APRN, NEA Chief Executive Officer Louisiana State Board of Nursing with increasing shortages of RNs as nurs- es succumb either to the disease or to the stress and long hours working in COVID units. Nursing is inherently a caring and help- ing profession, qualities which leave us more at risk and vulnerable to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress syn- drome. In addition to these physical man- ifestations, nurses are challenged by the moral distress of caring for this group of patients. Moral distress has been defined as “the condition of knowing the morally right thing to do, but institutional, proce- dural or social constraints make doing the right thing difficult, or what was the ‘right thing’ is now unknown or unattainable.” 2 During a crisis, nurses feel torn by deci- sions that force them to isolate their pa- tients and not allow family support, reuse equipment, take on more responsibilities of other health professionals or work long hours often in excess of the 60 hours/week seen as the upper limit of safe practice. Faced with these challenges, what can we do to care for our caregivers? Here are some practical ideas that have been sug- gested by mental health workers and other nurse leaders: • Small group processing and debrief- ing sessions, either face-to-face or virtual, to allow nurses to share their experiences, facilitated by psychi- atrists, psychologists or psychiat- ric-mental health nurse practitioners; • Routine rounds by supervisors to check in on staff and provide relief as needed, especially to our newest and most vulnerable nurses; relief may be in the form of conversations with staff members, mandatory rest and recuperation periods or replacement staff; • Time off without repercussions in- cluding threats to report nurses to Boards of Nursing for refusing an as- signment for cause or for resignation during the pandemic; • Coping workshops; • Provision of outdoor spaces/gardens for decompressing (if weather per- mits) or inside spa-like spaces with aromatherapy and meditation music; • Journaling; • Finding a new hobby that helps oth- ers, like mask-making. 3, 4 In closing, I have one more suggestion to offer for all of us as we attempt to navi- gate through the end of this pandemic. Ev- eryone agrees that 2020 has been stressful, painful and the worst year in most ev- eryone’s life memory. With that in mind, I challenge everyone to make only one 2021 resolution, and that is to make someone laugh or at least smile every day during the coming year. Let’s concentrate on making all the contacts in our lives – fam- ily, friends, professional colleagues and strangers – feel better. Laughter boosts the immune system, improves oxygenation, enhances circulation and generates heal- ing biochemicals such as serotonin and in- terleukin. Find a way to get laughter back in your life. I suggest hanging with children – they have not lost the ability to laugh and play. You’ll feel better, and all those around you will feel better too. n REFERENCES 1 Louisiana Department of Health. COVID-19 In- formation. Louisiana Coronavirus COVID-19 | De- partment of Health | State of Louisiana (la.gov) December 1, 2020. 2 Hoebelheinrich, Kathy, (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic; Change and challenge. DC Nursing News, Summer, p. 21. 3 Kalbacker, Marion Enzerra, (2020). Caring for our own. North Carolina Board of Nursing Bul- letin, Fall, p.16. 4 Welch, Rebecca, (2020). COVID-19 and anxiety. The Florida Nursing Quarterly, Fall, p. 10. “I CHALLENGE EVERYONE TO MAKE ONLY ONE 2021 RESOLUTION, AND THAT IS TO MAKE SOMEONE LAUGH OR AT LEAST SMILE EVERY DAY DURING THE COMING YEAR.”