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The COVID-19 pandemic quickly accelerated the opportunity for those in many professions to work remotely. These virtual opportunities continue to be available to some nurses and other healthcare providers, but limited information exists in the literature about nurses' perceptions of remote work. This article presents perspectives of nurses, most of whom worked remotely in some capacity, and who shared their perceptions on facilitators and barriers regarding remote work. These nurses also ranked both effectiveness of nurse's remote work and of remote meeting participation for professional nursing governance, in their opinion. Top facilitators were organizational and technological support for both remote workers and those in the hospital setting required to interface with remote workers; time savings; and financial savings. The ability to work remotely contributed to work-life balance. Top barriers were a feeling of disconnectedness from the organization; ineffective technology; and lack of organizational support, including lack of leader presence. Opportunities exist for needs assessment of organizational support of remote workers, evidence to inform nurse types and tasks for remote and hybrid work, as well as remote leadership models.

Living a healthy lifestyle is a constant choice. As a life goal, it is a decision to uphold every moment and is best achieved with support of others. There are a multitude of workplace wellness and healthy lifestyle programs that address achieving and maintaining the goal of normal weight over a lifetime. Fewer such evidence based programs exist and a goal of our hospital is to create a comprehensive wellness program based on evidence. In the context of normal weight maintenance in nurses, this article discusses selected challenges for healthy eating and exercise and nurse fitness programs based on the author and her colleagues experiences with specific obesity research interventions, such as Nurses Living FitTM, that we designed and offered. An exemplar provides details about our wellness programs, which included three annual walk or run events, one full day conference, and a series of multiple exercise, yoga, and nutrition sessions. Our goal was to expose nurses to healthier lifestyle aspects with a primary focus on the optimal balance of exercise and nutrition. Over the years of research, events, and programs, greater than 1,000 people have participated. The conclusion includes implications for education and practice in the hope that our experiences may motive nurses to design exercise and nutrition programs to promote normal weight maintenance in nurses.

The healthcare environment has become increasingly difficult during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic that began in March 2020. In this article, we discuss a study that considered differences by nurse type in professional quality of life perceptions. The primary study aim was to quantify differences in pre-COVID-19 and intra-COVID-19 perceptions of compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) by nurse type, using the ProQOL survey. A secondary aim was to evaluate nurse perceptions of the intra-COVID-19 work environment. The study methods utilized a survey design with random sampling by nurse type (clinical, nurse manager, nurse director, and other nurse). Results suggested that intra-COVID-19, nurse managers had significantly greater CF scores. Intra-COVID-19, nurse directors had greater CS. COVID-19 negatively impacted self-care activities for nurses. Our discussion considers these findings related to pre-pandemic research that considered CS and CF. Implications for research and practice included identification of best practices for improvement in work environment, especially for nurse managers, and general recommendations for hazard pay and paid time off. While nurse managers have the greatest CF, all nurses need pandemic-related support.

Patients and families desire compassionate care from healthcare providers. In today's healthcare environment, challenges exist for all providers, including nurses, with balancing the delivery of consistent, compassionate care and maintaining a professional quality of life (QOL) that incorporates overall wellness and a healthy work environment. A literature review indicated no available research related to compassion satisfaction and fatigue and work environment by RN type. The aims of this study were to quantify differences in compassion satisfaction (CS) and compassion fatigue (CF) scores, including burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS), by four registered nurse (RN) employment-types and to study work environment factors. Our methods included a survey of a random sample (n = 208) of RNs by type. Study results indicated that significant differences existed by RN type for CF (burnout and STS) scores; nurse leaders had the most CF and other nurses the least. Significant differences also existed for some shared governance activities and workplace violence measures. Our discussion concludes that opportunities exist for evaluation of interventions for healthier work environments, particularly for nurse leaders, including supporting shared governance activities for all RN types, as well as zero-tolerance for workplace violence.