Nurses and other health care professionals skillfully care for others but often deny their own needs for renewal. Occupational stressors common to these professions that contribute to burnout include long shifts, a high level of responsibility (in many cases without corresponding levels of authority), frequent downsizing and reorganization, and daily exposure to illness, trauma, and loss.

What if it effective self-care only took a minute? What if a caregiver could feel better in a short time with a minimal yet powerful set of exercises they could do at work, with no special equipment or clothing necessary? The Storydancer Project’s TAKE A MINUTE® Transformative Self-Care…. a renewal program for health care professionals represents a breakthrough in the way health care professionals think about and deal with burnout – physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion accompanied by cynicism and disengagement. Many health care professionals postpone or neglect self-care because they cannot imagine adding more hours onto their already overwhelming day to exercise, release accumulated tension, and rejuvenate. Our project re-imagines self-care by making it accessible, easy-to-learn, fun, effective and efficient. The broader vision is to create a replicable model of daily self-care training that will be widely adopted in health care settings to build resilience and prevent burnout. This in turn has the potential to positively impact the entire health care system by significantly improving health care professionals’ job longevity, work engagement levels and, consequently, patient outcomes.