Programming and Education
Through innovative evidence-based programming, including well-being retreats and professional development workshops, the Compassionate Care Initiative empowers healthcare workers and students to build personal resilience, navigate workplace challenges, and deliver patient care with skill and compassion. Through this work, CCI strives to inspire a new generation of compassionate leaders who will transform nursing and healthcare.
A signature program since the Initiative's founding, CCI retreats are geared toward those learning and working in healthcare and are an opportunity to reflect, recharge and gain new skills in mindful self-care and cultivating compassion for self and others. Often led by healthcare workers, the program incorporates experiential guided practices, including meditation, gentle movement, reflective writing, and time to connect with nature.
Every pre-licensure nursing student at UVA takes part in CCI retreats during their educational journey. By making space and time for this skill-building in self-care, CCI retreats embedded in the pre-licensure, RN-BSN, and DNP curriculums truly set UVA School of Nursing apart.
CCI faculty and staff can also design retreats that are tailored to entities' needs and settings and can bring focus to team-building, team care, and building leadership presence. If you are interested in scheduling a custom CCI retreat, contact us.
To help individuals heal from burnout and build resilience, health systems and teams must intentionally build interprofessional collaborations and empower them to meaningfully advocate for and contribute to systems change. Compassionate care is a team effort; if they're going to thrive, healthcare systems must integrate compassion into business and practice decision-making.
The CCI Learning Series offers accredited continuing education by UVA Health Continuing Education. The series includes programs for healthcare workers, including professionals, caregivers, students, faculty, staff, and community members, that are focused on relieving human suffering through compassion. The series emphasizes well-being, collaboration, and leadership to provide compassionate care.
Previous events include:
"Making Room for Rest and Recovery in Healthcare"
Dr. Courtney McCluney's case for rest and recovery as an essential organizational strategy to sustain healthcare workers and reduce inequities in healthcare. Co-sponsored by UVA School of Nursing IDEA initiative. (September 2024)
“Healing Healthcare”: A conversation with Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General
With CCI director Lili Powell, Dr. Murthy discusses "me" and "we" solutions for promoting clinician mental health and well-being, shares stories about his own experiences with burnout, and reminds us that every health worker is born with compassion, has innate value, and matters. Co-sponsored by UVA Medical Center Hour and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation. (March 2024)
- Discussion Guide
Explains purpose, gives viewing suggestions, offers discussion questions, as well as resources and select bibliography - Annotated Transcript
Provides verbatim record, plus background notes
"Investing in Clinician Well-Being, Wellness Cultures, and High Quality, Safe Care"
Bernadette Melnyk is the country's first academic chief wellness officer, and, from her post at The Ohio State University, discusses how to make the case for investing in clinician well-being with evidence-based tactics that work. Co-sponsored by UVA Health CNO Kathy Baker and UVA School of Nursing Dean Marianne Baernholdt. (February 2024)
Micro-moments Calendar
A well-being practice-a-day to learn what works best for you OR take a deeper dive to learn and reinforce one new habit a week
Mindful Eating
Encouraging a deep focus on the taste, feel, and smell of food in order to become more present with how the body responds to food
Massage and Muscle Relaxation
Recharge, renew and become more resilient with these massage practices
Self-care Wheel
Reflect on the different ways you are nourished and create your own care plan
Guided practices:
- ABC: Arrive - Breath - Connect with CCI Director Lili Powell
- Compassion Meditations created by CCI Ambassador and FEAP Consultant Anna DeLong
- Brain training to promote focus and wellbeing, a playlist created by CCI Ambassador and FEAP Consultant Anna DeLong
- Brief, gentle movement and stretching videos with CCI facilitators.
Self-care Superpowers You Probably Didn't Know You Had
From the NSNA Imprint magazine for practical wisdom for healthcare students and workers
In 2013, the Compassionate Care Initiative was given a generous endowment from the Haney family to support sustainable collaboration between Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, Hospice of the Piedmont, UVA Schools of Nursing and Medicine, and the Compassionate Care Initiative. Since that time, the annual Haney Conference has supported our community members who provide care to those at the end of life and, through that work, inspired new conversations about how we can best care for each other.
Haney Conference planning team members include: Jonathan Bartels (Hospice of the Piedmont), Hannah Barton (Hospice of the Piedmont), Peggy Bishop (Sentara Martha Jefferson), Paula Copobianco (Sentara Martha Jefferson), Lee Ann Johnson (UVA School of Nursing), Natalie May (Compassionate Care Initiative), Br. Ignatius Perkins (community), Ann Marie Smith (UVA Health).
