Meaning and Joy at Work and Nurse Self-Care Practices

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement Framework for Improving Joy at Work includes self-care as a strategy to support happy, healthy, and productive people; however, this relationship has not previously been empirically demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to describe self-care practices and levels of meaning and joy in work (MJW) in a sample of registered nurses and to explore the relationship between self-care and MJW. Registered nurses (n = 122) from a regional health system completed a survey during a nursing recognition event. Measures included a Demographic Questionnaire, the Meaning and Joy in Work Questionnaire (MJWQ), and the Brief Mindful Self-Care Scale (Brief MSCS). The mean MJWQ score was 4.29 on a scale of 1 to 5, and the mean Brief MSCS score was 3.05. There was a significant relationship between MJWQ and Brief MSCS scores ( r = 0.43, P < .001). These results indicate that supporting self-care in nurses may improve MJW.