February – the month of love in the United States (U.S)!

Beginning with February 1 – or even before - the focus in February is Valentine’s Day, the day to remember one’s romantic love. Candy hearts with sweet somethings sayings, heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, bouquets of flowers, and lovey gushy greeting cards can be found in shops and grocery stores almost everywhere. Memes pop up on social media, and office parties with white frosted red velvet cupcakes and red hearts add to the love focus of the month.

In the U.S., Valentine’s Day parties and card exchanges begin in grade school, even pre-school, so by the time adulthood is reached, Valentine’s Day and all that comes with it is an expected celebration. As much as I look forward to Valentine’s Day and think it is important to have a day to recognize something so positive as love for others, isn’t it sad that self-care is not incorporated as part of the love theme of Valentine’s Day? Nazish (2021), writing on the topic of self-care as self-love on Valentine’s Day, quotes psychotherapist, Lucia Garcia-Giurgiu, “We often forget that the most important relationship we have is the one we have with ourselves” (para 3). Nazish (2021) points out the importance of self-care in managing anxiety and building resilience during times of stress and difficulty, and further quotes Lucia Garcia-Giurgiu as saying, “practicing self-compassion during these uncertain times builds an inner sense of safety and strengthens what in psychology is called our 'internal locus of control'—a sense that you have control over aspects of your life” (para 4).

At a recent Ottawa University MSN Weekend Intensive, I had the privilege of teaching nursing theory to new MSN students. One nursing theorist of note is Dr. Dorothea Orem, respected nurse scholar and theorist, who developed Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory (Hartweg & Metcalf, 2022). A topic that was discussed with students, and in fact brought up by them, is that the focus of Orem’s theory is the nurse’s care of others, and not care of self. At the core of Orem’s theory is her belief that within each individual is an innate ability to develop the capacity for self-care and self-reliance. The students discussed the importance of developing a nursing practice theory applying Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory to nurse self-care.

Of all the individuals I know who need self-care – and a day to celebrate self-care as part of self-love – are the nurses! Fellow nurses – can we please make that happen? Going back to what Lucia Garcia-Giurgiu (Nazish, 2021) had to say about the benefit of self-care, above, it is essential that nurses grasp self-care as NOT OPTIONAL. Our self-care is tied to our sanity and physical well-being…and our ability to effectively manage the stresses of our profession.

Nurse’s Valentines Day --- a Day to Celebrate Nurse Self-Care. Are you in?

Reference

Hartweg, D.L., and Metcalfe, S.A. (2022) Orem's self-care deficit nursing theory: Relevance and need for refinement. Nursing Science Quarterly, 35(1):70-76. doi:10.1177/08943184211051369.

Nazish, N. (2021). 11 simple ways to practice self-love this Valentine’s Day (and beyond). https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2021/02/14/11-simple-ways-to-practice-self-love-this-valentines-day-and-beyond/