From Sick Care to Well Care

Innovative wellness program pairs nurse practitioner students with front-line nurses

by Victoria Ellwood

Self-care is not a selfish thing.

“Having a wellness partner. Having someone to check in with. Having someone to listen to you. When it comes to promoting health and well-being, those are strategies that work … and they’re worth it,” explained Alice Teall, DNP, APRN-CNP, FAANP, assistant professor of clinical nursing. “When the pandemic hit, we found ourselves asking, ‘How can we take these tools for wellness and self-care, and use them for good in a broader way?’”

This summer, the College of Nursing teamed up with Trusted Health, a career platform and staffing organization that matches nurses with jobs, to create the Wellness Partner Program. It’s a one-on-one program pairing nurse practitioner (NP) students with Trusted Health’s cadre of nurses assigned to care for hospitalized COVID-19 patients across the country. College of Nursing Dean Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, and Teall received a grant from Trusted Health to support the program.

The initiative is an offshoot of an earlier collaboration last spring with Trusted Health – an emotional support hotline for its front-line nurses. The “warm line” operated from April to June, and was staffed by College of Nursing faculty, who offered encouragement and support.

“A lot of these nurses are very stressed but don’t want to ‘bother anyone’ and reach out for help,” Teall said. “The Wellness Partner Program addresses their stress, burnout and other mental health issues. It provides support wherever they need it most – whether that’s talking about their long days on the front lines or their challenges juggling work and child care, or their fears of the bringing the virus home. Sometimes just knowing someone is there to listen is enough.”

Student coaches aim to help the nurses build resilience and encourage them to engage in wellness tactics. Together, they create a plan, set goals and work on healthy behaviors – such as stress-relief activities, like mindfulness and meditation, tools for better sleep, nutrition tips, and squeezing in some exercise, Teall explained.

The Wellness Partner Program connects family practice and psychiatric NP students with Trusted Health nurses, with Teall acting as preceptor. Currently, 48 students – who gain clinical experience through their involvement – and more than 250 working nurses are on board the program that kicked off in June. A wait list of interested Trusted Health nurses will take part this fall.

Ohio State NP students complete a 6-hour training course to learn effective coaching strategies, and meet with Teall throughout the program. Each student is paired with three or four working nurses, with whom they connect over four to six weeks.

“I feel like I’m in the right place doing the right thing,” said Christopher Messmer, who has a BA in psychology from Ohio State. The U.S. Navy veteran served as a navy hospital corpsman HM3, and is pursuing a master of science in nursing degree in the psychiatric nurse practitioner specialty track through the graduate entry option. “The partnership allows me to put into action what I’ve learned at Ohio State. The college has resources for us to use, and questions to ask to get the conversation started. The goal is to help patients help themselves by sharing strategies and tools.”

Messmer is partnered with three nurses working in hospitals in Kansas and Arizona, connecting with them by video conferencing and phone calls. “Nursing is tough. It’s really stressful, and sometimes they can feel like they’re on an island,” said Messmer, whose wife is a nurse working with COVID-19 patients, too. “But the fact that these nurses have joined the partnering program is the first step. They want to feel better.”

Taylor Hale, BSN, RN, CPSN, a family practice NP student who also works full-time as a nurse at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, is partnering with three nurses. They include a travel nurse stationed in a COVID-19 tent in Florida, an ICU nurse in Chicago and an ER nurse in Cleveland. “A lot of what we do centers around self-reflection,” she said. “When was I at my best? What was I doing to feel good? What can I do now to get back to my best self?”

One of her partner nurses fits in a daily self-affirmation. “Every morning she thinks of a statement to keep in mind throughout the day, like ‘I am worthy.’ Or ‘I am doing a good job.’ Then she says it five times,” said Hale. “It helps her stay positive and centered while she works a long shift.”

It also works both ways, according to the NP students. “During this process, I’m reflecting on myself and my self-care, too,” Hale said. “If I don’t want to get up in the morning, I have to give myself a little positive self-talk. Get up. Get moving. Or if I’m stressed after my shift, I spend some time outside, being mindful, breathing in the fresh air.”

Added Messmer, “Things are tough right now. Sometimes what everyone needs most is just someone to talk to.”

The program, Teall said, is “so rewarding. We’re doing some real good and offering much-needed support.” This fall, she added, we will be expanding the program to provide wellness support for nurses who are practicing across The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center facilities and hospitals, and extending wellness support to students who have been isolated or quarantined due to COVID-19.