I thoroughly enjoyed Sharon J. Tucker's "The Vital Signs Selfie Campaign" (Viewpoint, May), which suggests that nurses should practice what they preach about living a healthy lifestyle. Nurses need to practice self-care, which means being mindful of their own health and stress levels to ensure they guard themselves against burnout.1 As an ICU nurse, I've often found myself telling patients' family members to go home and take care of themselves, that they'll be no good to the patient if they wear themselves out. It's time for nurses to have that same conversation with themselves. Considering the long hours we work, combined with perhaps not the healthiest lifestyle, we must take the time to take care of our physical and mental needs. As a nurse manager, I've taken to heart Tucker's plea to nurse managers to make self-care both a personal goal and a unit goal. We should be setting a good example not only for our patients, but also for our children, family members, and friends.

Christine Goodwin, BSN, RN

Corpus Christi, TX

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