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Abstract

Abstract

In response to the increasing emotional and physical demands placed on healthcare professionals, a not-for-profit health system in Southwest Florida implemented a wellness initiative, focusing on the intentional care of the spirit through its Spiritual Services, Resilience Education Support Team (REST), and its area Faith Community Nurses (FCN), called the REST Tea Cart service. Initially, the REST Tea Cart was designed to promote emotional well-being by providing staff members with complimentary tea, cookies, and inspirational note cards, aiming to create moments of peace and respite during the workday. It would grow much more, expanding beyond the hospital’s walls and touching the lives of many of its employees. The local FCNs, who volunteered to serve the staff, thought it important and meaningful to investigate its impact on hospital employees. Because the hospital was well into the process of obtaining Magnet status, it was relevant for FCNs to explore this initiative and its effects on nursing. To evaluate the impact of this initiative on nurses, the project coordinators developed a social well-being survey, which was distributed across three of the system’s five hospitals. The survey employed a 5-point Likert scale to quantify nurses’ measurable ratings of empathy, comfort, and the extent to which the REST Tea Cart contributed to a healing work environment. The results revealed overwhelmingly positive responses, with most nurses selecting “strongly agree” or “agree” across all measured domains. These findings indicated that small, intentional acts of kindness, such as the service provided by the REST Tea Cart, had a meaningful impact on a nurse’s well-being and helped foster a more empathetic, comforting, and healing workplace environment.

Keywords: initiative, resilience, well-being, empathy, comfort, healing, workplace environment, intentional care of the spirit

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