Growing the Green
Artemis II astronaut, Christina Koch, reminded us that on earth, we are a crew, just as they were in space.
In the UVA School of Nursing, we are a crew, to develop the next generation of nurses. This important work requires that we all care for each other—faculty, students, and staff.
On March 19, nine SON faculty and staff completed a four-hour training to become Team Wellbeing Advocates (TWA). Because we hear a lot about burnout and the challenges nurses face, not just in patient care but also in the classroom, Office of Strategic Wellness and Opportunity were eager to bring this program to the School of Nursing. The TWA program supports nurses and other team members in stressful moments by training advocates in Stress First Aid, peer support, wisdom wellbeing practices, and the skills to address unnecessary stressors.
Stress First Aid, developed by Professor Emeritus Richard Westphal, provides a non-stigmatizing way to discuss and address the wellbeing of health workers. Based on a four-color continuum—green, yellow, orange, and red—teams can flag their peers when the stress becomes overwhelming. “Hey, we’re crispy orange today and could use some reinforcements!” TWAs also learn peer support, the skills to identify where colleagues are on the stress continuum and how to mitigate harm, including directing them to appropriate resources. Wisdom wellbeing practices are designed to “grow the green,” boosting mindfulness and positive emotions that serve as emotional savings accounts to be drawn on in challenging times.
Creating effective support for nurses is challenging. Nurses tend not to ask for help when they are struggling emotionally or physically. Their ethos of caring for others often takes priority over their own needs. Also, many stressors that lead to burnout are not the result of individual weakness or failings; instead, they are the result of unnecessary stressors in the work environment. Patient acuity and helping patients in difficult times are what nurses sign up for. Broken equipment, poor communication, and toxic work environments are the unnecessary stressors that need to be addressed if we are truly serious about supporting nurse wellbeing.
Student nurses, faculty, and staff also face stressors in the learning environment, and these techniques can help them navigate daily stressors while preparing them for their clinical practice. As Joel Anderson, faculty member and director of the Wisdom & Wellbeing Program, put it: “We cannot teach students to care for patients well if we have not first modeled what it looks like to care for each other through support and reducing unnecessary stressors in our environment.”
New advocates Jamie Zawierucha, Christine Thalwitz, Molly Loving, Jenn Hale, Maria Murerwa, Malinda Whitlow, Ginger Richardson, Laurel Geis, and Sarah Craig join SON advocates Diane Washington, Crystal Toll, Ivy Hinton, Katy Hall, Hannah Crosby, Lili Powell, and Melissa Gomes.
Future plans include training more faculty, staff, and students to become TWAs and weaving these practices into the curriculum. We are a resource-rich environment with the Wisdom and Wellbeing Program, the Office of Strategic Wellness and Opportunity, the Compassionate Care Initiative, and many others; this is an exciting opportunity to leverage these partnerships and elevate a positive, productive workplace culture. Ivy Hinton, a TWA event organizer, said, “We’re looking forward to what we can do. I’m going to keep plugging away at ways I can bring this to my students.”
Team Wellbeing Advocate Testimonials
Molly Loving, Projects and Operations Manager
"I think it’s important to remember that we’re all human, not robots. We can’t do our best work if our first priority at the SON isn’t taking care of ourselves and the people around us, especially when it feels like everything is top priority. For me, becoming a Team Wellbeing Advocate was about learning to give myself, and encouraging others to give themselves, permission to prioritize wellbeing using flexible, go‑to practices that meet people where they are.
The world feels incredibly heavy and fast‑moving right now, and so much of the stress people carry is invisible. Using practices from the Wisdom and Wellbeing Training can help create space for honest conversations and real connection. Even something as simple as welcoming a real answer to “How are you?” can foster genuine connection and build a more supportive culture at the SON."
Sarah Craig, Associate Professor of Nursing
"Participating in the team member well-being training was valuable because it provided an opportunity to connect with colleagues across the School of Nursing with whom I don’t often interact. Building those relationships helps strengthen our sense of community and collaboration. I also appreciated the focus on fostering a healthy work environment, one where individuals feel supported, recognized, and reminded that their contributions matter."
