CPMC nursing leaders are investing in nurse well-being and building resilience.

As frontline caregivers, nurses are with patients during some of life’s most joyful and difficult moments.

But when stress and fatigue run high, nurses benefit from strong support systems – which is why Sutter has instituted programs specifically designed to help them manage challenges in patient care and maintain their well-being.  To support nurses and the culture of caring that is flourishing at Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, CPMC chief nurse executive Jim Benney began offering CPMC nurses the unique opportunity to attend overnight resilience retreats led by nursing experts who have fought their own battles with burnout.

The 1.5-day retreats for nurses are an immersive experience where frontline caregivers connect with each other, share their challenges, and learn how to process and cope with the trauma and stress that often accompany patient care.

Nurses attend presentations on topics such as resilience and renewal and discuss how to transform fast-paced work environments, among other strategies. They talk candidly about grief and loss and learn valuable communication skills. They’re also treated to nourishing food, a serene and comfortable setting, and even a session of high-energy country western line dancing.

So far, 218 CPMC nurses have attended eight retreats since the fall of 2023. CPMC is the first hospital in the Sutter Health system to offer resilience retreats to nurses, and the hope is to expand them to other locations.

For Benney, who began his career as a staff nurse at Baylor University Medical Center, the retreats are an important investment in nurses. CPMC covers the tuition for the overnight retreats, which accommodate 30 nurses at a ranch in Sonoma, Calif. Nurses are paid their salary while they attend. They also earn seven contact hours toward continuing education.

“I want nurses to feel empowered, supported, and healthy,” Benney explained. “They deserve the opportunity to build long, fulfilling careers at the bedside. That begins with cultivating a healthy work environment – one where nurses can truly thrive. Thanks to the generous philanthropic support of the CPMC Foundation, we’re able to offer transformative retreats that are helping bring that vision to life.”

The retreats are the brainchild of Cindi Cantril, a nationally recognized oncology nurse and cancer patient navigator who previously led cancer support services and patient navigation for Sutter Health’s Sutter Bay Medical Foundation. Cantril has more than 20 years of experience creating and leading retreats for cancer patients and oncology nurses. She also draws from 50 years of nursing experience and the deep self-care and self-compassion that she practices daily in her own life.

During retreats, Cantril and her team guide nurses through exercises designed to spark dialogue and introspection. Nurses reflect on why they chose their profession. They talk about how to handle stressors, how to mentor other nurses and recognize each other’s need for support.

“My goal is to create an immersive retreat where participants build resilience and a renewed joy for nursing.  Helping nurses heal and pass strength on empowers them to care for new nurses who are coming into the profession. It’s very concerning how many nurses are overwhelmed, lack self-compassion and experience compassion fatigue. After decades of creating and facilitating retreats, I know the experience and the benefits that retreats provide are profound and enduring for the participants,” Cantril said.

Nowhere was the need to help support nurses more evident than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jamie Mercado, a nurse navigator who is helping to establish a new pediatric hematology oncology division at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, recalls the exhaustion she witnessed – and felt – during the pandemic. In 2022, she attended one of Cantril’s retreats for oncology nurses. The experience was so transformative that Mercado jumped at the chance to work with Cantril when she expanded the retreats to include nurses of all specialties.

“I knew the difference the retreat had made in my life, because the lessons extend beyond the bedside,” Mercado said. “It’s not just your patient care that’s impacted. It’s everything. It made such a difference to me not just in my burnout, but how I was able to show up in my own life as a person.”

Mercado is not alone in her feelings about the retreat, which are echoed in the feedback Cantril and her team receive from attendees. “I feel valued as a nurse that Sutter would invest to send me to an amazing retreat to make me be a more resilient nurse/human being,” wrote one attendee. “Every nurse, doctor, and any other team member should go on this retreat once. Not only will it help our team foster better relationships with each other, but we’ll be able to transcend individually in our own personal lives,” shared another.

The retreats are paying off in other ways, too. Benney and his team are seeing increasingly positive feedback about the workplace environment and job satisfaction. Nursing leaders are also offering a range of other support to nurses including investing in management training through the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, new graduate internship opportunities, workplace wellness perks and a council management structure.

“It all comes down to having a healthy work environment so we can do what we’re here to do and that’s take care of our patients first and our people always,” Benney said.

Katrina “Kat” Ascencio-Holmes, chief nurse officer for Sutter Health, agrees that nurse well-being is essential to exceptional care and says the system’s more than 16,000 nurses are at the heart of the care it provides.

“Our nurses excel at delivering exceptional, high-quality care to our patients, and it’s vital that we support them with the right resources, education and programs—so they feel valued, empowered and equipped to succeed.”