WATCH: The power of vulnerability: Why nurses must take care of themselves

Researcher and storyteller Brene Brown is not a touchy-feely person. She doesn’t even hang out with people like that. As a woman of science, she revels in things that can be measured and controlled. She’s also sarcastic and tough.
Sound familiar?

Brown’s six-year long research on human connection dove into the heart of why some people feel worthy of connection and why others struggle with worthiness. She found that there’s surprisingly one simple factor that separates these two groups of people: One group harbors a fear of vulnerability (i.e. shame) and the other group embraces vulnerability as a necessity for connection. The people in this latter group simply believe that they are worthy of love and belonging. The most profound finding is that one cannot extend compassion to others unless you have compassion for yourself.

In Brown’s own words, these findings changed the way she “lives, loves, works and parents.”

Watch this important video that takes a wholehearted look at why the most important thing for a nurse is to take care of him/herself first — a message that is vitally important as nurses spend their lives caring for others, often at the expense of their own emotional and physical health.