Professional nurses’ facilitation of self-care in intensive care units: A concept analysis

Abstract

Objective This article aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the concept of self-care and outline its defining attributes, antecedents, consequences and empirical referents. Methods The literature was searched electronically using databases such as CINAHL, Medline, Psych INFO, ERIC, ScienceDirect, Amed, EBSCO (Health Source: Nursing and Academic Edition), Sage, Ujoogle and Google Scholar. Articles from 2013 to 2020 were searched to target recent and up-to-date information about the definitions, attributes, antecedents and consequences of the concept of self-care. Walker and Avant's framework was utilised to analyse the concept of self-care. Results The results of the concept analysis identified seven attributes, namely process, activity, capability, autonomous choice, education, self-control and interaction. The seven identified antecedents are self-motivation, participation, commitment, resources, religious and cultural beliefs, social, spiritual and professional support, and the availability of time. The consequences are the maintenance of health and wellbeing, autonomy, increased self-esteem, disease prevention, empowerment, increased social support and the ability to cope with stress. Conclusions The result of the concept analysis was used to describe a model to facilitate professional nurses’ self-care in the intensive care unit.

Mindful Self-Care Practice of Nurses in Acute Care: A Multisite Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Therefore, they are prone to experience emotional and mental exhaustion and fatigue, which affects their ability to care for themselves. Mindful self-care practices prevent the onset of mental health symptoms, mitigate professional burnout, and improve productivity and resilience in nurses, thereby enabling them to provide safe and effective patient care (Chipu & Downing, 2020; Roux & Benita, 2020). Practicing self-care enables nurses to ameliorate the undesirable and damaging effects of working in stressful environments (Linton & Koonmen, 2020).…”

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies. Chipu and Downing (2020) noted that nurses' self-care behaviors and practices are affected by their gender, age, clinical and professional experience, preference in activities, life choices, and educational levels. Hatch et al (2018) conducted a cohort survey of 402 nurses in the United States.…”

“…The noted benefits are improved physiological and psychological well-being, stress reduction, increased attention awareness, self-compassion, sense of coherence, and increased ability to develop therapeutic relationships (Ando et al, 2011; Cohen-Katz et al, 2005; Halm, 2017; Lin et al, 2020; Mackenzie et al, 2006; Shapiro et al, 2005). Mindful self-care practices can also increase nurses’ resilience, improving their ability to prove safe care in clinical practice (Chipu & Downing, 2020; Halm, 2017).…”

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Self‐Care in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Inventory based on the Middle‐Range Theory of Self‐Care of Chronic Illness

“…A few explanations can be advanced. Research on self-care indicated that patients with high self-care abilities often had an increased self-esteem (Chipu & Downing, 2020). In Chinese traditional beliefs, taking breaks during daily activities can be seen as a reflection of low self-competence, especially by older people.…”

Self-care behaviours and practices of professional nurses working in primary health care clinics

“…In the same breath, healthcare professionals, particularly professional nurses, have neglected the self-care concept; their focus is primarily on the nurse’s pledge of service, which states that patient care is their priority. 2 According to Younas, 1 nurses and nursing students tend to focus on their patients’ self-care and often pay little to no attention to their well-being. However, the best way to care for patients is to care for ourselves as healthcare professionals.…”