Endocrine Abstracts

Eat, Pray, Love ….Yourself; the title is modeled after a book (made into a movie) on life exploration and change. As health care providers, we spend a lot of time helping others; but how do we care for our self? We have been challenged to lead by example in our ever changing healthcare climate. To do this, we must nurture the physical, emotional, and relationship parts of our life. Insight into the risks of employment in health care will be used to direct conversations in managing these risks to achieve positive outcomes in longevity of employment and our own lives. In this talk, we will use the tenets of self determination theory (competence, autonomy and relatedness) as we explore personal and professional strategies to increase life satisfaction.

In preparation for this general session, (given at PENS conference, April 2012), Pediatric Endocrine Nurse Society (PENS) nurses were surveyed to determine perceived autonomy, relatedness and competence in their job using Self Determination Theory Work Satisfaction Questionnaire. In addition to this assessment of job satisfaction, it was important to assess their overall Quality of Life. For this, the short version of Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q) was used. This was done to identify correlations between overall quality of life and perceived work satisfaction. Results of the surveys, as well as demographics will be used for the talk. This session will attempt to connect past and present perceptions of workplace and personal factors that impact job and life satisfaction. Through storytelling and exploration we will discuss how nurses can remain healthy as they care for others. Assessment of individual perceptions can direct future research to positively impact group competence, thus impacting nurse roles.