The Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation® (HNHN) initiative was launched in 2017 to support the wellbeing of our nation’s 4+ million Nurses. Its program is mainly an online platform, open to everyone, from student Nurses to retired Nurses and focuses on the main domains of physical activity, rest, nutrition, quality of life, and safety. It has the mission statement of, “improving the nation’s health—one nurse at a time.”
Over the years HNHN has had a positive impact on Nurses and their wellbeing, by building a community that encourages Nurses to focus on themselves and how they show up in the world. Presently, it has over 238,000 participants and more than 580 partner organizations. The Integrative Nurse Coach® Academy/International Nurse Coach Association has been a Champion Partner organization since 2018. You can read our HNHN Champion Spotlight blog from 2018 here.
The Integrative Nurse Coach® Academy pioneered the Integrative Health and Wellness Assessment (IHWA) in 2011 and since then has been validated and used by thousands of people seeking more awareness related to their health and wellness.
The IHWA is made up of a series of questions that allows you (or a client, patient or community) to reflect on your wellness status using eight dimensions or categories of wellness. You can take the IHWA here.
The categories are:
- Life Balance and Satisfaction, (2) Relationships, (3) Spiritual, (4) Mental, (5) Emotional, (6) Physical (Nutrition, Exercise, Weight Management), and (8) Health Responsibility.
Connecting IHWA and HNHN
I would like to connect the Health Nurse, Healthy Nation’s domains of wellness with the IHWA as they both complement each other and assist all of us (Nurses or not) to tune into the importance of connecting with the concept of complete wholeness.
Recently, HNHN updated their definition of a healthy Nurse. In 2020, HNHN explained a health Nurse as, a “healthy nurse actively focuses on creating and maintaining a balance and synergy of physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, financial, personal, and professional well-being” (American Nurse Journal, 2023).
What is a Healthy Nurse?
In 2024, the Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation redefined a healthy Nurse. Here is the definition, “A healthy nurse is one who prioritizes striving toward positive physical, mental, social, environmental, and professional well-being.” (American Nurses Association, 2024).
I LOVE this definition, as to me, I am striving every day to move towards positive adjustments in my well-being- all of it. Some days I am right on par with my choices and behaviors, and the next moment I am doing things and choosing things that are not always 100% supportive of my personal or professional wellbeing. But this is the rational ebb and flow of life.
Humans are not perfect, and when we can honor ourselves and give ourselves patience, self-love and self-compassion, no matter our decisions, behaviors or reactions, we can better show up as kinder, more loving and caring humans.
Be in Community!
An action that I think is supportive of my personal wellbeing is to be in community with other like-minded humans, and that’s one reason why I chose to be an active member of the Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation initiative. They have many, many resources and tools, discussion boards, challenges, blogs and ways to support us as Nurses (here’s a link to another blog I wrote called, Wellbeing Resources all Nurses can Use).
You Can Join Too!
You can join too! But before you click the link below, maybe you can leave a comment about what you think about the HNHN’s new definition of a healthy Nurse.
Here’s a reminder… “A healthy nurse is one who prioritizes striving toward positive physical, mental, social, environmental, and professional well-being.”
You can sign up to be more involved in the Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation initiative at hnhn.org. You also can text healthynurse to 52-886 to receive our monthly challenge tips via text.
See you there! Xo Nurse Coach Nicole
Links and Resources
American Nurses Association (2024). Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation, What is a Healthy Nurse? Retrieved July 9, 2024 from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/hnhn/
Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation (April 2023). Celebrating five years. American Nurse Journal. Retrieved on July 9, 2024 from https://www.healthynursehealthynation.org/~497fe5/globalassets/hnhn-assets/all-images-view-with-media/about/2023-hnhn_5-years_final.pdf
Nicole Vienneau MSN, RN, NC-BC is a recovering burned-out ICU Nurse. Through Integrative Nurse Coaching and holistic modalities, she’s on the daily voyage to well-becoming.
Nicole is founder Restoration Room and Blue Monarch Health, an author, podcast host of the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION!, holds a board certification in Integrative Nurse Coaching and combines 20+ years of Nursing with 30+ years of fitness, health coaching and energy work to partner with mid-life women and healthcare workers who want to THRIVE!
She loves her husband, her two crazy cats and enjoys being in nature and having fun.
