Helping students to self-care and enhance their health-promotion skills

Nurses have a public health role, requiring them to promote the health of individuals and communities, and to engage at a political and policy level to improve population health. There is also a professional expectation that nurses will model healthy behaviours and take responsibility for their personal health and wellbeing. However, studies have indicated that undergraduate nurses find the academic and practice elements of their nursing programmes stressful. To manage their stress many use coping behaviours that negatively impact on their health and wellbeing and may influence their ability and willingness to effectively support health promotion in practice. It is widely recognised that environments influence health outcomes and personal health behaviours. This article addresses some of the structural causes of student nurse stress and highlights a recent educational initiative at a UK university that aims to equip student nurses with the practical skills required to engage in health promotion and thereby provide benefits for service users and student nurses alike.