Abundant Life Program Enhances Nurses’ Health and Well-Being

Jan. 3, 2012 - PRLog -- The 2011 Abundant Life, Nursing Outcomes Evaluation Report documents specific benefits for nursing staff resulting from the integration of whole person care as determined through research conducted by Leading Age Center for Applied Research and Notre Dame College of Ohio Nursing Department.
Abundant Life is a wellness education program that promotes physical, psychosocial, and spiritual health. Abundant Life fosters wellness through the philosophy that every person is an inseparable unity of body, mind, and spirit and that care for the whole person contributes to well being and fuller, more meaningful life.
The Abundant Life research initiative, conducted in Northeast Ohio, focused on the development of the healthcare workforce through support for self-care with the hypothesis that improving the wellness of nursing staff will contribute to quality care. Participation in the two-day education and monthly wellness sessions had a positive effect on the lives and well-being of intervention nursing staff. Specific Benefits include:
•   Improved health and well-being of the participants
•   Better stress management
•   Greater presence to others and improved relationships
•   Greater actualization of the mission of their organization
•   Fosters whole person care for patients in long-term care and acute-care facilities
Participant comments reflect these benefits:
•   Abundant Life has reminded me of the need to maintain a holistic view of human wellness.
•   I'm looking at residents totally different now. I'm spending more time looking at the body language of a person and really listening. It's not just a job any more for me.
•   The reality is that . . . it's not what's happening out there that matters, it's how I respond to it.
This holistic approach to care requires minimal resources and has a sustained impact on wellness and quality of life for nursing staff, personally and professionally.

Abundant Life was developed and evaluated in partnership with Catholic Community Connection, The Cleveland Foundation, The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, and LeadingAge Center for Applied Research. For more information visit www.AbundantLifeEducation.com.
Pamela A. Maidens - pmaidens@sistersofcharityhealth.org

Director of Mission Education and Spiritual Development

Office: 216-377-4352