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Horses helping nurses deal with stress

'Barn to Bedside' retreat provides coping skills for nurses
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Posted at 2:15 PM, May 25, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-25 14:15:39-04

LOXAHATCHEE GROVES, Fla. — Nurses are spending a day of self-care at the Dovecot Farm in Loxahatchee Groves, Florida.

It's the "Barn to Bedside" retreat for health care workers dealing with stress from the pandemic.

"As you know, health care has been super stressful and sometimes you get in a fog with everything going on," said nurse Jenna Hallquist. "But here, it's a time to get away from the stress and be around horses and nature, to teach yourself to have a few moments focus on yourself and what you need and how to clear your mind of all of that stuff."

The pandemic is affecting nurses. Some are experiencing burnout or anxiety. But for a few hours, they're learning coping skills.

"Figuring out different people's personalities and how to deal with it, and it also allowed me to find out a lot about myself about my personality, how I deal with stress and kind of what I need to work on," shared nurse Ellen Wolf. "I think this program has been beneficial for nurses because it has been, let's be honest, a very difficult year-and-a-half. We are very stressed and I think that coming together and building up our team and figuring out the different personalities on how to beat stress, how to speak to different personalities, I think, is just amazing."

The Palm Health Foundation and Be Well Palm Beach County have both provided funding through grants for the Barn to Bedside retreat for nurses.

This story was originally published by Tania Rogers at WPTV.