Press Release
Today, Osmosis.org, #FirstRespondersFirst, and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Inc. launched an interactive e-learning course on mental resilience and well-being for nurses. Based on materials and content provided by subject matter experts from #FirstRespondersFirst, the "Nursing Resilience" course includes custom animations/videos, text resources, and assessments from Osmosis.org, the leading health education platform that empowers millions of current and future clinicians and caregivers worldwide. The course includes eight core modules each consisting of animated videos, learning materials, real-time examples shared by nurses, and assessment items.
The "Nursing Resilience" course, funded by #FirstRespondersFirst and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, was created in response to the compounding stresses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress, depression, and burnout already had a disproportionate impact on nurses long before the pandemic, but the current crisis has brought a crucial and urgent focus to the issue. A recent report from the International Council of Nurses estimates that in many countries, the proportion of nurses who report mental health distress has risen from 60% to 80%.
"Nursing is a profession centered on patient care, and it is often challenging for nurses to prioritize their own needs against the competing demands and stressors of their professional lives," shared Shekhar Saxena, Professor of Global Mental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and subject matter expert for #FirstRespondersFirst. “The "Nursing Resilience" course systematically trains nurses to build their resilience and protect their well-being—skills which are essential for them as individuals and for the healthcare system that they work in.”
The course will help nurses practice self-awareness of contextual stressors and identify personal warning signs and existing barriers to seeking mental health services. Participants will also develop an increased understanding of healthy coping strategies, and techniques to incorporate small and actionable changes into daily routines to relieve stress and improve well-being. Overarching course outcomes include increased resilience and an improved ability to recover from internal and external stressors.
“The Osmosis team is proud to partner with #FirstRespondersFirst and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation on this important initiative,” said Rishi Desai, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer at Osmosis. “First responders and nurses have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year, and the emotional and physical toll cannot be understated. Osmosis is thrilled to come together with our strategic partners to support the well-being of healthcare workers on the front lines.”
The course includes recommendations and resources tailored for nurses, including Thrive Global's Microsteps—small, actionable and science-backed steps nurses can take to make immediate changes in their daily lives—which help reduce stress levels and improve mental well-being.
"Speaking from my personal experiences as a nursing professional, frontline workers face so many stressors in their day-to-day life outside of a pandemic, let alone during one,” said Kyle Slinn, RN, MEd, Project Manager and Instructional Designer at Osmosis, who served as the lead writer for "Nursing Resilience." “I’m so excited this course not only focuses on helping frontline workers self-reflect and identify stressors they may be experiencing, but also proposes a number of solutions on how to decrease those stressors.”
Chiefly developed by Nurses on the Osmosis Health team with input from practicing Nurses at various technical expertise and levels of experience, "Nursing Resilience" is permanently free to access and accredited by the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association (IPMA) for 3.75 contact hours toward continuing education units. Healthcare workers can register for "Nursing Resilience" at https://osms.it/nursing-resilience and complete the self-directed course at their own pace.
ABOUT THE PARTNERS
Osmosis.org is an online health education platform empowering millions of current and future health professionals with a better understanding of medicine and health topics. Osmosis produces concise, high-quality videos on health and medicine topics. Each video features precise scripting and utilizes whiteboard-style animation to make complex topics approachable for any audience. Osmosis has partnered with over 30 organizations to produce video content on subjects ranging from antibiotic resistance to nursing leadership and shared decision making and its video content has been viewed more than 70 million times across all platforms. Osmosis delivers medical education resources to learners worldwide via its YouTube channel which has more than 1.9 million subscribers; the Osmosis.org platform which has more than 1 million registered users; and free, accredited courses on COVID-19 offered through Coursera and Teachable which have reached over 100,000 learners.
#FirstRespondersFirst is an initiative of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA Foundation which takes a whole human approach to addressing the needs of frontline workers in order to support their ability to serve on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. #FirstRespondersFirst’s fundraising call to action helps provide essential supplies, protective equipment, accommodations, child care, food, and critical mental health support and resources to this demographically and socially diverse workforce, ranging from minimum-wage hourly workers in home-care settings to social workers, nurses, physicians, and beyond through its implementing collaborators Americares, Bright Horizons, CORE Response, Direct Relief, Give An Hour, Global Health Corps, Hispanic Federation, IHG Hotels & Resorts, InnerHour, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Marriott International, National Black Nurses Association, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Omada Health, Osmosis, Pivot, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, World Central Kitchen, and You Okay, Doc?. Through strategic partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, #FirstRespondersFirst equips first responders with the tools and resources needed to build their resilience and promote positive mental health while also advocating for change at the institutional level in order to ensure organizations prioritize workforce well-being. Powered by Thrive Global's behavior change platform, #FirstRespondersFirst also provides access to Harvard Chan School’s evidence-based content, specifically tailored to this critical workforce, to help improve the physical and mental well-being of healthcare workers.