| Purpose: This study explored how hospital-based registered nurses experience and practice selfcare and self-compassion during clinical work and how these experiences influence their wellbeing and patient care.
Background: Nurses work in demanding environments where opportunities for restoration are
limited. Although self-care is widely recognized as essential to sustaining caring practice, little
qualitative research has examined how nurses enact these practices during clinical shifts.
Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was used. Seventeen registered nurses
participated in a demographic survey and semi-structured virtual interviews. Data were analyzed
using iterative thematic analysis.
Results: Nine themes emerged. Nurses described engaging in spontaneous micro-practices,
deliberate rituals, and self-compassion in action. Their ability to use these practices was shaped
by a culture of permission or workplace strain. Well-being followed two pathways: restoration or
accumulated stress, and patient care shifted accordingly, with relational presence when nurses
felt restored and transactional care when stress accumulated.
Conclusions: Self-care and self-compassion function as relational and organizational practices
rather than individual choices. When supported, they strengthen resilience and compassionate
care; when constrained, stress accumulates, and transactional care results. Nurse well-being is
foundational to safe, high-quality patient care.
Key words: nursing, self-care, self-compassion, burnout, phenomenology, qualitative research |