Dear Nursing Family,
As I unpack after returning from vacation, I realize how much I desperately needed this time with my family to rest and restore. And I immediately thought of each of you. The incredible weight you carry every shift, the emotional toll, the long hours, and the endless demands are real, and I know many of you are feeling completely exhausted. I hope you are able to get the respite you deserve.
While my challenges as a leader look different from the ones you face on the floor, I want to be completely honest with you — I struggle with burnout too. The pressure to get everything right and the constant worry for our team often keeps me up at night. I know what it feels like to run on empty.
Hiding this struggle doesn’t help any of us. We cannot pour from an empty cup. Your wellbeing is not a luxury, and it is not a secondary goal. It is our absolute priority.
The Realities We Are Facing
We cannot talk about wellbeing without acknowledging the challenges in healthcare today. The numbers reflect what you live every day. Recent data from the Nurse.com 2026 Nurse Salary Research Report shows that 53% of nurses report experiencing burnout, and 60% report feeling overwhelmed. A national Joyce University survey revealed that 74% of registered nurses feel emotionally exhausted multiple times a week due to heavy charting, demanding workloads, and constant interruptions.
Nurses are dealing with the challenges of an imperfect healthcare system, not a lack of personal resilience.
Compounding this regular workload, I know the current season brings its own unique chaos for some of you as we are in the middle of the back-to-school transition. Balancing rigid shift schedules with school supply shopping, childcare changes, and the emotional anxiety of getting kids settled into a new academic year adds an entire second layer of stress at home.
My kids are young adults now, but as I think back on the years when they were so dependent on me, I wonder how we survived. It was hard, and I did it back in the good old days before social media took off. When I was raising my kids, no one knew if everything wasn’t perfectly perfect in every way, and my kids didn’t realize that not everyone ate Hamburger Helper or take-out several nights a week. Pressures to “perform” are everywhere, not just at work.
Small Ways to Reclaim Your Peace
When the system is heavy, it’s important to find ways to restore your energy. While the leadership team actively works on making sure you have the resources you need, I encourage you to protect your peace in small, practical ways:
- Micro Breaks: Even if you have only five minutes, step away from the monitors. Close your eyes, stretch, step outside for some fresh air – anything that gives you a moment to reset. Sometimes even a few minutes of focused time away helps me.
- Radical Disconnection: When you clock out, leave work here. Turn off email notifications. Avoid “doomscrolling” healthcare news. Give your brain a chance to be quiet.
- Lean on Each Other: Talk openly and honestly with your colleagues. Acknowledge when a shift is brutal. I find that the most helpful relief comes from being seen and understood by people who walk in our shoes, those who understand the challenges and don’t offer quick, unrealistic solutions.
- Protect the Basics: Prioritize sleep, healthy eating, and exercise outside to help manage stress. Find activities that bring you peace (mine is working in my garden for 30 minutes when I get home).
My Promise to You
While I was out on vacation, I really tried to practice what I’m preaching. I avoided my email and asked the team to text me only if I was urgently needed (knowing they could/would handle everything in my absence and they did). I knew I needed time away to regain focus so I could come back and work for you with a clear mind. My top priority remains finding ways to better support you, improve our daily operations, and promote your peace.
Being “all in” isn’t just about our patients – it’s about each other, too. Please take care of yourselves and look out for one another. Take advantage of our employee assistance programs, find ways to reclaim your peace, and PLEASE speak up to leadership when it gets to be too much.
You are the heart of this hospital, but you are human beings first. I care about you, and I am “all in” for you.
With deep gratitude,
Tammy
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division