BACKGROUND:
Awareness that being kind and compassionate to yourself is often overlooked as a self-care strategy, despite emerging evidence that demonstrates high levels of self-compassion decreases levels of anxiety, stress and improves well-being.

OBJECTIVES:
To identify and explore what being compassionate to yourself means to nurses and midwives and increase knowledge and understanding of how self-compassion may enhance health and well-being.

METHODS:
A sequential explanatory mixed methods study design was employed to identify and explore the influence of self-compassion education workshop on nurses and midwives’ health and well-being, consisting of two quantitative and qualitative phases.

RESULTS:
In phase 1, fifty-four (n=54) participants responded to a pre-workshop questionnaire, 55 completed an immediate post-questionnaire, and 28 completed a follow-up six to eight weeks later. In phase 2, five participants attended individual interviews to gain deeper insights. Quantitative findings showed a significant increase in self-compassion scores post-workshop, with an estimated improvement of 0.26 points (95% CI: 0.14, 0.38, P < 0.001). Participants’ anxiety levels significantly decreased by 0.5 units (95% CI: -0.64, -0.36, P < 0.001); mood changes were not statistically significant. Reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data provided further insight. Three key themes emerged: (1) “Awareness of self-compassion was the first step,” (2) “Treat yourself as you treat others,” and (3) “Self-compassion strategies with everyday living activities.”

CONCLUSIONS:
This study demonstrated that self-compassion education can enhance nurses’ and midwives’ knowledge and understanding of self-compassion and leading to immediate improvements in self-compassion and reductions in anxiety levels. However, the qualitative phase highlighted the need for sustained reinforcement of self-compassion practices. Further research is recommended to confirm these initial findings and explore long-term impacts.

KEY MESSAGE:
Educating nurses and midwives about self-compassion can lead to immediate improvements in their well-being by increasing self-compassion and reducing anxiety; however, ongoing support is essential to sustain these benefits over time. Poster session 3 (Group B)