Editorial

Happy New Year to all!

Make self-care a priority

Nurses preach the gospel of self-care to anyone who will listen. Deep down, we know that unless we take good care of ourselves, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to take care of anyone else. Nurses inform all other caregivers that they “need to take very good care of themselves, or they will not be able to take care of their loved one.” Nurse educators teach their students the importance of self-care as they juggle work, families, and the demands of a very rigorous academic program.

Find the humor

There is great wisdom in the expression “what is worth taking seriously is worth laughing about.” Nurse educators do serious work. We are acutely aware that decisions we make change the lives of our students and shape the future of our profession. It is serious business, indeed. However, working with student nurses is also a very rich source of chaotic, ridiculous humor. You have to laugh about the student who shows up for a community clinical experience wearing a tube top under her laboratory

Do not take it personally

As nurse educators, we serve a demanding population and receive a lot of negative feedback and complaints. In the New Year, we resolve to take none of the negative feedback personally. In the Four Agreements, Miguel Ruiz (1997) reminds us that nothing that others say and do is personally directed, it is always about them. Whatever our students do, think, say, or feel, do not take it personally. Save your emotional energy for something other than the opinions and actions of others.

I encourage