BA, R.PsychN; Peer Circle Director, Nurse 2 Nurse Peer Support
Presenting on: Wednesday October 27
Session Title: Nurse Wellness through Peer Support
Session Description: Through the use of story, lived experiences will be shared focusing on the need for peer support in reintegration to the workplace. Touching on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual challenges that nurses face during a global pandemic and ways we can encourage wellness in our personal lives and nurse community. Participants will get first hand experience of some of the tools designed to promote personal wellness and a healthy work life.
Learning Objectives:
1) Increase awareness of peer support services for nurses
2) To normalize personal lived experiences and decrease stigma of nurses experiencing mental health distress
3) To develop tools to promote personal wellness and a healthy work life.
Speaker Biography: Having worked as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse for over 10 years and experiencing her own mental health challenges and a psycho-spiritual crisis, Fola has learned that the healing journey often thrives from a holistic lens. Her practice is focused on incorporating shamanic practices, integration therapy, and alternative healing modalities when caring for others.
She has found a passion for teaching, creating safe spaces for others, and diving into topics on consciousness and wellness. Coming from a place of self-compassion and acceptance can open many doors of possibility in life. She is a proponent of self-care as one way to better manage a life that can seem chaotic and stressful. Her hope is for nurses to realize their potential to dream the reality that sparks them.
Sarah Bohachyk (co-presenter)
RN, BScN, MN (student); Advocacy & Education Director, Nurse 2 Nurse Peer Support
Sarah was part of the first graduating class from MacEwan University to receive a Bachelor of Nursing Degree and has been a practicing Registered Nurse for over 10 years. She has devoted her career specializing in Emergency Department nursing. She understands that emergency situations bring out the best and worst of humanity and has always advocated for her patients to be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. In 2020, the impact of working a decade in the Emergency Department took its toll. She experienced her own battle with work-related PTSD. The process of seeking help and navigating the system while injured was traumatizing in itself and has led to her passion in supporting other nurses with their mental health challenges through the use of peer support.