UCLA creates 'Circle of Caring' for nurses to fight professional burnout

Nurses constantly care for others yet rarely nurture themselves. To fight professional burnout, Katherine Brown-Saltzman, R.N., created the Circle of Caring, a unique weekend retreat for nurses and other health care professionals.

"The ethical vow 'to do no harm' should include ourselves," explains Brown-Saltzman, co-director of the UCLA Ethics Center and a former pediatric oncology nurse. "For one weekend, we ask our participants not to take care of others and to let others nurture them."

Located in rustic Lake Arrowhead, the experiential program blends the arts, ritual, meditation, massage, yoga and creative expression to renew healers who've been trained to focus first on the needs of others.

UCLA Health System's nursing department was the first to offer a program of this kind in 1992. More than 500 people have experienced the retreat, which opened to non-UCLA staff in 1998.

Participants learn tools for setting boundaries, reducing stress, healing grief and creating balance in their lives.

Offered twice a year, the next retreat will take place Oct. 21-23, 2011. The $650 cost includes all meals, accommodations, programs and materials. UCLA Health System staff may attend at the subsidized cost of $290.

The weekend retreat is open to all caregivers, including nurses, physicians, social workers, nursing assistants, chaplains, child development staff, therapists and administrators.

The course offers 12 contact hours for nurses and 10 CEU hours for licensed clinical social workers and marriage and family therapists.