As the TAKE A MINUTE® self-care and resiliency work TSP was doing in India with palliative care nurses gained momentum, it began to be noticed by nursing institutions here in the U.S. A year and a half ago, TSP facilitated a self-care workshop for nurses at the University of Virginia. Subsequently, we were invited to Johns Hopkins School of Nursing through a connection with our Board Chair, Dr. Cynda Rushton, to conduct a daylong program of sessions for nurses. TSP facilitated a series of 20-minute self-care and resiliency trainings on six different floors of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, working with nurses in the oncology, cardiac, child psychiatry, and nursing school administration departments, among others. The participants were surprised and gratified to discover that they could feel so much better in such a short time. They wanted to learn more.

The success of the daylong program inspired TSP, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing to collaborate on twice-a-year nurses renewal sessions/open daylong retreats co-led by Dr. Rushton and Zuleikha, during which nurses could explore the roots of resilience and self-care in-depth from a personal and professional standpoint. The stress of their jobs often causes clinicians to disconnect from their own spiritual, physical and emotional selves, and this in turn disconnects them from patients and families, which undermines their work. Clinical studies have shown empathy to be negatively correlated with burnout; when burnout is alleviated, empathy returns. One of the goals of this TSP program is to restore clinicians’ wholeness and their capacity for compassionate care.