Raising Resilience Pam Ressler, Stress Resources

The writer Joan Didion opines — “we tell ourselves stories in order to live”. When one is in the depths of a health crisis stories matter as a way to gain hope, healing, and understanding. Research has suggested that writing about our experiences, in the form of journaling, may be helpful in managing our stress and building resilience. In this episode of Raising Resilience, Pam Ressler speaks with author Faith Wilcox about hope and healing through journaling in pediatric intensive care units.

Nurses are the largest sector of the healthcare professions — with over 4 million nurses in the United States and more than 20 million nurses worldwide. As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept into our lives over the past year, nurses have played an ever more important role in the health and wellness of our nation and the world. However, nurses are also the canaries in the coal mine of healthcare — sounding the alarm on the impact of the pandemic on stress and resilience among our healthcare professionals. It is essential that those who care for us also have the tools and resources to care for themselves. During this episode, Pam Ressler talks with Holly Carpenter, Senior Policy Advisor at the American Nurses Association, about the initiatives and resources available for nurses and others to address resilience.



Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation

The Wellbeing Initiative

ANA Nurse Suicide Prevention/Resilience

ANA COVID-19 Video Education Series

In this episode of Raising Resilience, we are going to talk golf and resilience. It is a topic near and dear to my heart as a relatively new golfer, but one who has embraced the challenge and seen the similarities between my training in mindfulness and meditation the game of golf. Golf guru Jim Flick one said, “Golf is 90 percent mental, and the other 10 percent is ….mental”. The game of golf and the golf course can be an intimidating environment for many women, especially for those who did not learn to play golf as young girls. That is why I find Lynn Cotter’s online presence such a welcome, encouraging voice for women and girls navigating the game of golf with confidence and….resilience.

During this episode Pam and her guest, civil rights attorney, arts activist, pain patient advocate, Kate Nicholson, discuss how resilience is being re-imagined in light of the current global pandemic, why resilience is both individual and societal, and what Kate discovered as she began to explore visual art and meditation as a way to regain wholeness in her life.

We are now half a year into navigating a new (ab)normal in our lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The return to school and childcare is on the minds of parents, kids and teachers, along with the myriad of unknowns that coexist with the logistics of returning to group settings. How do we strengthen our resilience in times of increased stress and anxiety — and maintain a sense of control during times of uncertainty? In this episode of Raising Resilience, Pam is joined by Dr. Jody Thomas to discuss the unique challenges posed this year, the ubiquitous nature of dealing with stress in our lives and the lives of our children, and evidence-based tools to help us all cope more effectively.

A definition of resilience is the ability to bend, adapt and adjust to change. Our current global pandemic has necessitated a rapid adoption of different ways to deliver healthcare and the challenge of building resilience and sustainability in these new models. One of the areas that has been fast-tracked is telehealth or virtual visits with healthcare providers. In-person office visits ceased, elective procedures were canceled, hospitals and outpatient practices saw staff furloughed and redeployed to other areas. Primary care practices were rapidly thrust into a steep learning curve of implementing new methods of patient-provider interaction. After the pandemic dissipates, how will healthcare be delivered, are there best practices that are emerging, can telehealth be delivered equitably to vulnerable populations? On this episode Pam is joined by Barbara Rabson, President and CEO of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners discussing the opportunities and barriers to telehealth