Emotional well-being of nurses to be the focus of Nursing Live’s Compassion Café

RCN Nurse of the Year Alison Bunce to host workshop on stress management and self-care in the workplace.

Nursing Live has announced it will be creating a space dedicated to the emotional well-being of nursing staff.

Called the Compassion Café, and sponsored by LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare, the facility will be a quiet and inclusive area which will enable nursing staff to process and reflect on the emotional impact their job has on them.

Delegates will be able to take a seat for some quiet time alone or use the space to chat with friends. The café will also function as a peer-to-peer safe space where people will be able listen to each other, and support colleagues, who need to unburden themselves. 

In addition, the Café will be running a series of facilitated workshops which will explore key compassionate and self-care topics. These will include sessions on the emotional impact of nursing, such as dealing with the loss of a patient, engaging with bereaved families, and the effect of the pandemic. 

Other workshops will examine techniques and tools – including group somatic work and capacitar finger holds -which can help manage stress, and keep nurses psychologically safe. 

One of the workshops will be led by Senior Palliative Care Nurse Alison Bunce. Alison, who founded Compassionate Inverclyde and is RCN 2022 Nurse of the Year, will be giving advice on how nursing staff can manage stress in the workplace by using a series of ‘on the spot’ self-help techniques.  

Alison said: “Compassionate Inverclyde was developed to transform attitudes and practices around loneliness, social isolation and bereavement through the power of ordinary people and local communities. But similarly, nursing staff need emotional support to help them deal with the traumatic experiences and stressful situations they encounter every day. 

“The Compassion Café at Nursing Live will therefore not only act as sanctuary for delegates wanting somewhere quiet to relax and reflect, it will be a place where colleagues can share personal problems and empathise with each other. The café will also host a series of best practice workshops focused on compassionate self-care, stress management, and personal well-being. These will be designed to help nurses to deal with the incredible emotional pressures they face on a daily basis.” 

In addition to sponsoring the cafe, Lloyds Pharmacy Clinical Homecare will be hosting a special facilitated workshop focused on compassion fatigue on Friday November 10th at 10.30am.

Jo Upton, at LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare, said:

“We are so honoured to be sponsoring such a meaningful space. Our partnership with Nursing Live reflects our shared values of patient-centric care and recognition of the invaluable contributions that nurses make day in day out – not only within our organisation and to our patients, but across the entire healthcare system.

“It is all too common for nurses to have to contend with challenges like compassion fatigue, and we believe that fostering a supportive environment is vital.

“The Compassion Café will play its role in helping to enhance the emotional wellbeing of nurses during their time at Nursing Live, and will serve as a crucial reminder to nurses that self-care, downtime, stress management and conversation are just as important as the services they provide.”

The Compassion Café, sponsored by LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare, will be in the Health and Well-being Zone at Nursing Live, and will be open from 10.00 am each day.

Sessions will be bookable on site.

For details of Alison’s session, and other Compassion Café workshops, visit the event programme.