Happy Nurses Month 2023 from Sage Integrative Wellness (SIW)!
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has designated May 2023 National Nurses Month with a weekly focus on the following areas — Self-Care, Recognition, Professional Development, and Community Engagement.
Self-care – Week 1, May 1 – May 7
As nurses, we choose to be caregivers to our patients, family, friends, and co-workers. Yet, we often skip or need to provide ourselves with the same level of caregiving. This week the ANA encourages nurses to prioritize self-care to cultivate and maintain optimal mental health and physical well-being. Undivided attention is one of the best gifts we, as nurses, can give ourselves.
According to the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA), to facilitate healing within others, nurses must undertake healing within themselves. Furthermore, self-care is a core value of holistic nursing. Holistic nurses value themselves and mobilize the necessary resources to care for themselves. They endeavor to integrate self-awareness, self-care, self-healing, and self-responsibility into their lives by incorporating various practices, including Mind-body practices, biologically-based therapies, manipulative and body-based methods, energy therapies, good nutrition and exercise, lifelong learning, and self-assessment. To learn more about these practices, click here for AHNA’s FREE self-care and resilience toolkit.
In addition to the self-care toolkit, the AHNA has partnered with ANA to be a part of the Healthy Nurse, Health Nation (HNHN) program, which connects and engages nurses, employers, and organizations around improving health in six areas: mental health, physical activity, nutrition, rest, quality of life, and safety. The HNHN program also offers nurses monthly challenges focusing on these six areas. Watch this short video to learn more about this partnership and the program.
Recognition – Week 2, May 8 – May 14
This week the ANA encourages nurses to honor the work of nurses who lead, excel, and innovate in our healthcare systems and communities.
At SIW, we recognize our Sage Nurses who are high-visionary leaders and innovators on our Instagram profile.
The ANA resource toolkit provides tips for working with the media and tools to help nurses raise the visibility of nursing by requesting a proclamation (click here to download a sample proclamation letter) from local and state governments to declare May 6 as National Nurse Recognition Day or May as Nurses Month.
Another option to spotlight National Nurses Month is through social media. Every nurse is an educator who can use social media to promote nursing values or express gratitude, appreciation, and recognition of nurses who make a difference daily. Lastly, social media can be used to share the story of your nursing journey.
The ANA has designated the following hashtags for 2023 #ANANursesMonth and #YouMakeADifference. As always, please follow your facility’s guidelines for posting content.
Professional Development – Week 3, May 15 – May 21
Nurses are lifelong learners. During this week, the ANA encourages nurses to focus on how to excel in their nursing career and help other nurses in their professional journey. One option is the ANA’s Navigating Nursing webinar series expands communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills.
Another avenue for professional development is through certification. The ANCC Certification Program enables nurses to demonstrate their specialty expertise and validate their knowledge to employers and patients in traditional nursing specialties. In addition, the AHNCC Certification Program enables holistic nurses and nurse coaches to distinguish themselves as experts in nursing practice, education, and research.
Are you interested in learning about career advancement through certification as a holistic nurse or integrative nurse coach? Click here to download SIW’s free e-book, which includes a free holistic continuing nursing education opportunity.
Ready to start your holistic nursing career? Sage Mentorships allow individuals to receive further one-on-one professional nurse coaching for their healing path and mentoring for their holistic nursing career as an AHNCC board-certified holistic nurse or nurse coach.
Community Engagement – Week 4, May 22 – May 31
Time to take it to the streets! In the final week of Nurses Month, the ANA prompts nurses to help promote nurses’ invaluable contributions by engaging with their community and educating them on what nurses do.
Locally, nurses can partner with other nursing and healthcare organizations in their area to sponsor a joint Nurses Month event. Consider a (virtual) fundraiser for the community, a blood drive, or online workshops to reduce stress and build morale.
Nurses are leaders, and we can use our voices to educate, influence, and strengthen our communities by becoming policymakers. Three opportunities to serve your community at a higher level:
Nurses On Boards Coalition is a national partnership of organizations committed to improving the health of communities through the service of nurses on boards.
ANA’s Policy and State Government Affairs program monitors trends in nursing-related legislation in the states and discusses current and ongoing healthcare issues with elected officials at the local, state, or federal level.
RN Action’s advocacy toolkit can be used to learn how to voice your concerns about the nursing profession to Congress and stay up to date on the latest news and legislation from the Hill.
Takeaways
The American Nurses Association designates May 2023 as National Nurses Month with a weekly focus on self-care, recognition, professional development, and community engagement. During Week 1, the ANA encourages nurses to prioritize their mental health and physical well-being through self-care practices. Week 2 is dedicated to recognizing nurses’ contributions to healthcare systems and communities. Week 3 focuses on professional development, including ANCC and AHNCC certification programs and SIW’s free e-book on holistic nursing. In Week 4, nurses are encouraged to engage with their communities and promote the nursing profession. Learn more about these initiatives and how to get involved with ANA’s resource toolkit.
Nurse Author Dominique Fontaine, BSN, RN, HNB-BC, HWNC-BC is a double board certified holistic nurse, Amen Clinics certified professional brain health coach, holistic medical content writer, and medical content reviewer for Sage Integrative Wellness, LLC and various national and international wellness companies and media companies. Dominique offers holistic nurse consulting for businesses, media companies, and organizations in holistic medical content writing and medical content reviewing upon request. She’s a passionate neurodiverse nurse advocate striving to transform healthcare and culture through awareness, holistic education and research, and integrative brain health nurse coaching.
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