StressPal Team at Texas Nurses Association

StressPal team members Karen Knecht MSN, RN-BC and Pennie Sempell, JD, CEO, were delighted to exhibit at Texas Nurses Association and hear the stories and concerns of so many nurses.  Although the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, nurse leaders report that attrition and burnout remain high. The potential safety risk to patients  – exhaustion, miscommunication, medical errors – was mentioned by several attendees.  Several participants commented that new career nurses seem to be at a higher risk for distress and intent to leave the profession.  Nurse educators reported that it is very difficult for them to track what happens to nurses once they graduate, as response rates to follow-up surveys are quite low.  Across the board, nurses, educators and nurse leaders felt that a structured program to train nurses and students in cutting-edge, best practices strategies to build cognitive and behavioral competencies in pressured situations and interactions, would be a valuable resource.