Teaching and assessment strategies for nursing self-care competencies in Ontario's nursing education programs

In Canada, nurses comprise half the healthcare employment sector, yet comparably, they are twice as likely to experience absenteeism due to occupational burnout. This issue is pronounced for entry-level nurses. The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) mandates professional practice standards and entry-level practice competencies; notably, these documents lack explicit performance expectations linked to nursing self-care. This lack of acknowledgment is reflected in what is known, which is little, about how self-care competencies are taught and assessed in nursing education programs. From a Program Director perspective, this study examined the strategies used to teach and assess self-care competencies in Ontario's nursing education programs. Survey results (n = 8), reported intention-action gaps highest (i.e., there is a need for increased teaching), in self-care competencies not mandated by the CNO (i.e., relationship, emotional, and spiritual self-care), whereas competencies mandated by the CNO (i.e., professionalism), were rated higher in relative teaching than importance. Given that self-care strategies (e.g. maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships and engaging in spiritual growth and mindfulness) have shown to be protective factors against workload stress, burnout, and job attrition, regulatory colleges need to consider mandating these self-care competencies within their professional practice standards and entry-level registered nurse practice guidelines.