CTWNP: Know the Data

Know the Data LIVE is a CT Nurse Wellness Project podcast series that brings the CT State of Nurse Wellness Survey findings to life.

In each episode, we go beyond the numbers to explore what Connecticut nurses and future nurses are telling us about their mental health, well-being, workplace experiences, capacity, safety, connection, and ability to sustain themselves in the profession.

Through conversations with nurses, healthcare leaders, educators, and community partners, we examine what the data mean, why they matter, and how the CT Nurse Wellness Project is translating nurse voices into meaningful statewide action.

Know the data. Understand the experience. Be part of the action.

Learn more about the CT Nurse Wellness Project, explore our initiatives, and find ways to get involved:

Website: www.ctstateofnursewellness.com
Email: info@ctnursewellnessproject.com

Making Wellness the Standard of Care™ for nurses and future nurses across Connecticut.

#CTNurseWellnessProject #KnowTheData #CTStateOfNurseWellness #CTNurses #NurseWellness #NurseMentalHealth #WenWell

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for joining. So today is the day one of our CT Nurse Wellness Project live series. I'm Dr. Wendy Garvin Mayo. I'm the founder of the CT Nurse Wellness Project. And I'm really excited to spend the next three days here with you to talk about where we've been and where we're going to improve the overall mental health and well-being of Connecticut nurses. And I'm really excited to share the data with you today. This work began a long time ago, even though you may have started seeing it more recently. But this work has been going on in the background for quite a while. And I want to thank you if you've been on this journey with us. So over the next uh three days, we're going to move through three important conversations. Today is day one, which is know the data. So, where did the work begin? And where did the Connecticut nurse, what did the Connecticut nurses tell us? So we want to talk a little bit about the history of the CT Nurse Wellness Project, as well as show you the data and talk about some of the highlights from the survey that we did. And then tomorrow, day two, it's to understand the impact of the data. What do these findings mean for nurse wellness and well-being in the nursing workforce? And then day three, which is my favorite day, and you'll have to come back for day three, is to act together. This is where we are going to unveil our CT Nurse Wellness Action Framework. And this is in response to the survey data. So make sure you're here on Thursday at 12:30 so we can unveil that action framework for you. I think you'll be very interested to see what we're doing for our Connecticut nurses. Now, I want to start by telling you a little bit about me. For those of you who don't know me, you may have seen my content over the platform, but not really know who I am. So my name is Dr. Wendy Garbameo. I am an oncology nurse practitioner here in Connecticut. I am a practicing oncology nurse practitioner. I also own a mental health practice here in Connecticut called Collaborative Cancer Care. And here at Collaborative Cancer Care, we build a mental health and well-being infrastructure for our cancer community. So the same thing we're doing for nurses in Connecticut, we do for cancer patients. I've been in nursing for over 20 years across various sectors, clinical leadership, academia, research, and industry. I've been in the nurse wellness space since 2020, 2021. I launched the nurse wellness mentorship, the nurse wellness podcast, which you're probably seeing some clips of that resurfacing as we are doing a CT Nurse Wellness Project edition of that podcast. I facilitated multiple workshops and trainings around nurse wellness, stress management, emotional intelligence, burnout, provided keynote presentations. I even organized one-day events around uh nurse wellness. And, you know, something that really came to me is doing all of these events and all of these speaking engagements, it's usually a one-day event. And then what happens after the event? How do we truly move the needle on nurse wellness? Is it a one-day event? Probably not. And I think we've been talking about nurse wellness and stress and burnout for a very long time. And really that question led to what you're seeing now as the CT Nurse Wellness Project. But I want to start by giving you the history of this project because I want you to see that it didn't start overnight. It didn't start just um with a thought, right? It wasn't just a thought and random posting, but there was some there was some history here. So I want to share this. Um, let's see here. I want to share our timeline here with you. So the vision really began for the C2 Nurse Wellness Project in February of 2025. It was an idea that was very simple. And in the name, it was intentional because it was a call for nurses across Connecticut to come together to intentionally see how we can move the needle on nurse wellness at a state level. So that name of, you know, CT Nurse Wellness Project, CT Nurse Wellness is intentional. It was a call for nurses across the state. And the vision um was bigger than really hosting a wellness event or a one-day event, but that's where it started. In October of 2025, the vision was introduced publicly by a statewide uh wellness event. And then in November of 2025, we realigned with the purpose of the CT Nurse Wellness Project because it became clear that the initiative needed to evolve. And we rebranded to the CT Nurse Wellness Project and we realigned the work around the original mission, which was how can we move the needle on nurse wellness at a state level? And that realignment was um intentional. It was intentional because we really needed to realign with the purpose, identify new partners, restructure how we're doing things, and hone in on the strategy of the work so that it really aligns with what we're trying to do in terms of move the needle on uh nurse wellness across the state. So the CT Nurse Wellness took shape after that in November. And then in December, we recruited an advisory board. And I want to take a moment to just showcase our advisory board members. We have uh diverse uh members on our diverse on our advisory board, which was intentional because all of them bring a different specialty that can help us really move the needle on nurse wellness in different sectors. So the first advisory board member here, Melaway, is a UConn um nursing student. We have Heather. Heather is a nurse leader in the VA space. We have uh Dr. Stacy Bentle, she's a nurse leader for DCF. We have Michelle. Michelle is a physician's assistant working in urgent care. We have Sarah Lee. Sarah Lee is in the home care space. We have Natasha, who is a new, excuse me, registered nurse. Uh, she has some ER experience there. We have Roseanne, who is a retired nurse but still remains in the public health arena. We have Cheryl. Cheryl is in the long-term care space. We have Rebecca, she's in the mental health space. We have Kayla. Kayla, when she first uh started as an advisory board member, she was in academia, but now she's in the state. We have Dr. Tori Murpa, who is uh a nurse leader at Smilo, and then we have Jessica, who was a nurse leader in uh long-term care. We have Leslie, who's in academia, we have Dr. Rosalie uh Lobo, who's also in academia, and Denise Morris, who's also in academia. So we really try to have a diverse um number of people represented on our board, and that was intentional because we want to make sure that everyone's voice is heard from those different sectors. And it's not perfect, but it is definitely a start. Uh, so after we recruited our advisory board, um, then the question became so what is nurse wellness in the state of Connecticut? We need a baseline. Where are we working from? So being a uh past researcher, I started looking for data. I started looking for data, you know, with our workforce, with our um A chapter, and I found data through the American Nurses Association. However, that data only showed the voice of 17 Connecticut nurses. So that was not enough. And that's where this whole survey really came from. It's trying to find the data. We didn't have data, so we had to create the data to get a pulse on what is nurse wellness in the state of Connecticut. So that's why this survey was launched. That's the rationale behind it. And then in January, we had our first event, virtual event, and that was the state of nurse wellness. You may have attended. We had um 130 people register um and attend that uh event. That was a really great event. It was a panel discussion around nurse wellness, and it really showed that nurse wellness is a problem nationally. And then during that event, we launched the CT State of Nurse Wellness Survey. And that survey ran for um from January to March for 60 days. And in the meantime, we were just, you know, collecting the data, looking at the data, um, just seeing what's kind of coming in, keeping a pulse on that. And then uh once that data was solidified, we sent it over to a statistician to clean the data, an independent statistician. So we did not clean the data ourselves. So the results are from an independent um individual. Um, and then in May, we received the Daisy Award from our CT Center of Nursing uh workforce, which was a huge accomplishment for our entire advisory board. So everyone on the advisory board uh received a Daisy Award and received the Daisy PIN, which was a nice accomplishment for um for our initiative. And then in June, we had the opportunity to present the clean data from the survey at the National Workforce Forum Conference. And that was a really interesting experience because we were able to be there with um other individuals from the nursing workforce. And no one is really collecting nurse wellness data. And I think it's something that we need to consider, especially with so many nurses out here now who are in the nurse wellness space, focusing on resilience or stress. And, you know, I would love for nurses to hone in on where is the nurse wellness data in your state? And if you need assistance with that or have questions, Connecticut's more than happy to help you and share what we have done. But I think it's important for us to look at where's the data in our state so we can understand how we're driving different initiatives to help improve the overall health and wellness of nurses. Now, I know organizations do their own surveys, but I'm talking about um, you know, data from, you know, the state. Um, then in August, Governor uh Ned Lamont officially proclaimed August 8th as the Connecticut Nurse Mental Health and Well-Being Day that highlights the mental health needs and daily challenges of nurses in our state. That was really good because that's an acknowledgement that um mental health and well-being of nurses is important. That's not the end-all be all, but it's still an accomplishment because the governor has proclaimed that. So August 8th is truly our day. Um, and August 8th, we actually had our in-person event to release the survey highlights and our action framework. And that event was um was well attended. We had a really good time at that event. Um, we also got some media coverage, channel three came. We had a senator there, we had uh nurse leaders in the room. It was really, really, a really great event. So that day we released the data from 438 nurses across our state, and then we released our action plan. So, what did nurses across Connecticut tell us? That's what you're here for, right? So I want to kind of go over the highlights because we've been posting this um through throughout our platforms over the last week or so. So, workplace violence was a huge issue. Um that requires us to think about safely, safety broadly, including, you know, physical violence, psychological safety, incivility, bullying in the culture nurses are working within. And, you know, I know we talk about workplace violence, and the public looks at it as, you know, visitors or patients being violent to nurses. And one thing I want to highlight is incivility and bullying that happens internally. So nurses are experiencing workplace violence by patients and visitors, as well as you know, by colleagues. So something we need to really look into and dial in and figure out how we can um decrease the number of nurses who are experiencing workplace violence. The next was sustainability. More than one-third of our nurses reported concerns around sustaining their current work over a long period of time or even in the long term. This is an important distinction because we're asking whether they believe there's a way that they can sustain working. So if they don't have the sustainability, that can lead to issues around um retention, as we know. And I want to just say that the results that we received from this survey, we weren't shocked by them, right? We we know what the issues are, but it gives us a baseline as to where our state is and where we're gonna and where we're going, right? So so these aren't surprising, talking about retention and workplace violence. These are issues that are ongoing. But for our state, we are we have um objective data telling us what our nurses are going through. So I just want you to know that that they're not surprising, but it's important that we have the data and that we are going to action against what we actually received. So rest and recovery was another um area of concern where nurses reported inadequate rest and recovery. And that affects more than just sleep. But you know, if they are showing up depleted, it impacts their them physically, their emotional well-being, their relationships. They can't regulate themselves, their stress, decision making is compromised, concentration, overall capacity that can be a safety issue for uh nurses working uh within organizations who do not have adequate rest or sleep. And then we also saw that um the wellness uh burden is unequal. So, what does that mean? The environment where nurses work, some environments um nurses felt like they had more issues and they they were not well. So those three places were behavioral health, um, subacute and acute settings where um nurses aren't doing that well. Um, but there were other areas where nurses were doing a little better. So it just shows that um wellness is multidimensional, it's not one thing, but environment has a huge impact on uh a nurse's ability to feel well, right? Because these are all subjective, and then we also have some qualitative data uh from nurses across the state that really underpin all of um all of the uh data that we just reviewed. So once we started really looking at the findings, there were three three three themes that really kind of stood out to us as uh the CT nurse wellness project. One was capacity. And the question we started asking was um, do nurses have the physical, emotional, emotional, emotional, and mental resources to continue doing their work? Do they have the capacity to continue being in the profession? The second thing was safety. Do they feel safe, physically and psychologically safe where they work? And then the third thing was connection. Do they feel supported, valued, heard, and connected um to the people they work with? And do they have the resources? So capacity, safety, and connection are really foundational in how we think about wellness um as a CTNS wellness project. And our um action framework kind of follows that. Um, and one thing I want to say, and we'll get into this a little more tomorrow, is I know that um, you know, people talk about systems and organizations um have to do X, Y, or Z for nurses to be well. And I think that, you know, it's not one thing. Um it's not just on the organizations. Organizations absolutely have responsibilities, leaders obviously have a responsibility. The systems within the organization have responsibility, but nurses also have agency. And I don't think we talk enough about that. I don't think we talk about what nurses can do. Nurses have agency to be self-aware, recognize issues, and then be introspective to ask, you know, how am I doing? Am I depleted? Is this the place for me? So having some agency to make sure that you are well. And if you're not well, taking steps in the direction so you can be well, right? So there are multiple factors and multiple layers there that we're not going to peel back today, but just something to think about. A lot of the results um, you know, point towards um organizations and systems, which I'm not saying they're perfect, but also nurses have to feel empowered to take um responsibility, so to speak, for themselves, for themselves, for their profession, for how they practice, um, because that's the beauty of nursing. Nursing is so dynamic, it's one of the best professions on the planet. There's so many things we can do. I was having a conversation the other day uh with a nurse, and we were talking about how now you see nurses really doing nursing their way. So whether it's in an organization or outside of an organization, but we shouldn't have to give up the profession because we're having one bad experience. Um, so we're gonna talk more about that tomorrow during our session. But nurses have agency, and that's one of the things that um I'm really passionate about is making nurses feel empowered, knowing how much power we have as nurses, and not saying it's easy, but it's possible. There are so many possibilities that um, you know, we can do, we can engage in. There's so many things, um, so many ways we can serve patients that we want to serve. So uh I just want to put a pin in that until tomorrow. Uh, so I just want to end with, I'm not gonna keep you long, but I I want to end with um, you know, today I wanted you to just understand just two things, just two, and these sessions are not gonna be very long, but just two things. The first is where this project came from, uh, that the vision really began in February of 2025. It was publicly unveiled in October of 2025, and then we intentionally realigned in November of 2025. Um, and then that's where the whole survey and everything kind of came together under the CT Nurse Wellness Project. Uh, so we collected data. Now we're just really building from there, really building how we can make nurses well at a statewide level. Um, and I don't believe this has been done before um at a statewide level. I know Oregon, they have a really great nurse wellness um uh workforce over there. And they were actually at that national conference, they're doing some things a little differently, but they're they're doing some things around nurse wellness. But uh we are really creating the blueprint as we're going. And the second thing I wanted you to know is um I want you to remember the statistics are not the story, that the nurses behind the statistics are really the story, and every number represents someone's experience. So tomorrow we're gonna move beyond the data and we're gonna talk about what these findings actually mean. But we're gonna look at it through the lens of capacity, safety, and connection and explore the intersection of organizational responsibility and individual agency. And then on day three, don't forget, we're gonna um really unveil the CT Nurse uh wellness action framework. Um, that framework is pretty comprehensive, and we're gonna be working it uh over the next 12 months, but we have some exciting things going on. You may have seen a couple of things, but we're gonna really unveil that. So before we leave today, I want you to consider one question. I always want you to leave with something to think about. I want you to think about your own nursing experience and what area needs the most attention right now. Is it capacity, is it safety, or is it connection? Just think about where you are, whether you are a leader, whether you are a CEO, whether you are a bedside nurse, um, you're in middle management. Just think about that. Because at the end of the day, we're all human and we all can use capacity, safety, and more connection. So just think about that for a minute. And if you feel comfortable, you can share it with us. But until tomorrow at 12 30, take care of yourself. And I look forward to seeing you again uh tomorrow and then the next day for day three. Thank you so much for joining.