Nurse Meghan Schaefer wasn’t prepared for the sadness.

350+

new clinician 1 nurses hired at UVA Health in 2024

Don’t get her wrong. She loves working in UVA Health Children’s pediatric intensive care unit, her very first nursing job after graduating from James Madison University’s nursing program: the work, her patients, her colleagues.

Sometimes, though, she said, “It’s really high stress, and really sad, and you just have to continue on with your day.” 

It’s why the required well-being half-day course—one of six new focus areas offered as part of her Nurse Residency Program—is such a welcome relief.  

“I’m glad we do it,” Schaefer said of the yearlong Residency, which, in addition to providing each nurse with a preceptor “buddy” across their first year, regularly brings them together in small groups for learning, collaboration, and bonding. “To have the time and the tools to take a step back and say, ‘OK, this happened; let’s take a minute.’ That’s why today is helpful.” 

Today was the latest half-day nurses’ retreat at the School of Nursing, led by the Compassionate Care Initiative and Faculty Employee Assistance Program staff during which Schaefer and her peers learned about the limbic system’s stress response, rolled tennis balls under sock feet, took part in relaxation and writing exercises, painted, and chatted amicably with colleagues. Part of a cohort of 14 new nurses, most of whom attended nursing school during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schaefer and her fellow nurses gathered in scrubs, sweats, and street clothes, in hospital conference rooms, in classrooms, and in gardens on UVA’s Grounds.

They come to learn, connect, relax—and because it’s required. 

"Teaching self-care early in a nurse's career helps both the individual nurse and the hospital where they work. When nurses flourish, so do their patients."

Natalie May, associate professor, and part of the Compassionate Care Initiative

This part of the Residency urges nurses to consider self-care from their first day, tethers them to one another, and offers "trainable skills of well-being,” said Natalie May, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, who leads the self-care module, which is part of a growing expanse of learning and development services the School offers through the Synergy Center that strengthen new nurses' skills, relationships, and the teams in which they'll be working.

“Teaching self-care early in a nurse’s career helps both the individual nurse and the hospital where they work,” said May, who studies mattering and its impact on healthcare workers’ quality of care, burnout, longevity, and attrition. “When nurses flourish, so do their patients.” 

"We're not just building nurses for now; We're building them for the future."

Deanna Potoschnik, nursing professional development specialist, UVA Health

Research also affirms the power of burnout reduction strategies to help hospitals’ bottom line. Hospitals that employ strategies to support nurses—through wage increases, professional mobility, stress reduction, and opportunities for learning and leadership—spend about one-third less per nurse per year employed on burnout-related costs than those hospitals without such initiatives. 

Nearly 20 years ago, UVA Health nursing professional development specialist Deanna Pototschnik attended well-being courses as a new nurse. She still practices the breathing and chair yoga exercises she learned there.  

“When you go through courses like this, it makes an impact on you,” she said. “I’ve seen how our nurses’ mental health was impacted during the pandemic and feel that this is something that helps bring people back to a place of peace. I won’t say it’s a guarantee because there are so many things to that go into whether a nurse stays or leaves, but if we can save one, we’re doing something good.” 

“We’re not just building nurses for now,” Pototschnik added. “We’re building them for the future.” 

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