Self-Care in Palliative Care: A Way of Being

Abstract

In the field of palliative care, self-care has been socially constructed to refer to a series of disconnected activities that are a response to stress that has been ineffective in preventing or ameliorating stress and burnout. This study was designed to reveal the use of the term self-care as presented in the text Caregiver Stress and Staff Support in Illness, Dying, and Bereavement (Renzenbrink, 2011), using a method based on grounded theory, discourse analysis. By examining the term self-care in the context of this written text, we see that self-care has evolved to mean a proactive and responsive way of being that is embedded in the values, responsibilities, and resources of the organization and the people within the organization. This leads to heightened internal consciousness which spurs actions that create balance and a way of being that cares for the self/Self. When there is balance, self-care is generated and valued, and so it continues in a reflexive loop. A model is presented that can serve to assist organizations in embedding self-care into the system.