Kim Richards, RN

Integrative Nurse Health Coach (INC)Founder/Owner, Self-Care Academy™President, Kim Richards & Associates, Inc.

An Integrative Nurse Coach (INC) provides support and structure for a client who is interested in pursuing wellness, adjusting to and/or making life changes, navigating their health care, working with or preventing chronic disease, and dealing with a health and/or life challenge. Coaching works within a therapeutic, collaborative and caring environment that facilitates and encourages a client’s own process of beliefs and their receptivity for optimal wellness in mental, physical and emotional health, spiritual well-being, relationships and environmental life style.

As a nurse and an executive recruiter, Kim became increasingly aware of the “revolving door” of nurses in acute care facilities. After interviewing hundreds of nurses, Kim noticed a common theme was emerging. Nurses were expressing signs and symptoms of Compassion Fatigue, a debilitating phenomenon that is caused by years of built up emotional residue. By combining her passion for nursing, fitness and coaching as well as her extensive research on the science of self-care, Kim created the components of Self-Care Academy, LLC, a comprehensive program that is dedicated to improving employee engagement, relationships with peers and creating an optimum healing environment for patients. Through coaching sessions, active participation and learning various modalities of self-care and stress reduction, the SCA program creates a lasting behavioral shift that is documented by measurable metrics.

She is an active member of the:

•AssociationofNurseExecutives(AONE) •NationalAssociationofWomenBusinessOwners(NAWBO) •AmericanHolisticNursesAssociation(AHNA) •GlobalNursingExchange(GNE) •AmericanCouncilonExercise

Kim serves on the Advisory Board of the International Integrative Nurse Coach Association and has served on the leadershipfacultyoftheColoradoCenterforNursingExcellence.ShelivesinbeautifulColoradoandenjoysaveryactive lifestyle of hiking, biking and skiing in the Rocky Mountains. She teaches aerobics, spinning, kickboxing and yoga. She enjoys traveling, volunteering, reading and encouraging others to create their best life without limitation.

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Recent Publications:

•Nurses: To care for others, we must FIRST care for ourselves, Reflections of Nursing Leadership •AJN Book of the Year Award 2012! Richards, K,( 2012) The Practice of Self-Care to Prevent Burnout andCreatetheOptimalHealingEnvironment.MasteringPrecepting:ANurse’sHandbookforSuccess, ed. Beth Ulrich. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International. •ShiparskiL,RichardsK,NelsonJ,Self-CareStrategiestoEnhanceCaring.NurseLeader,June2011, Volume 9, Issue 3: 26. •RichardsK,NelsonJ,OvercomingObstaclestoCreatetheOptimalHealingEnvironment.NurseLeader, April 2011, Volume 9, Issue 2: 37. •KrischkeM,RichardsK,ExpertTipstoCombatCompassionFatigueNurseConnectOn-Line,February 2011. •Douglas,K,(Richards,Kcontributor)WhenCaringStops,StaffingDoesn’tReallyMatterNursing Economic$.November/December2010:415. •Richards,K.(2009).1)SelfRecoveryandRenewal2)JoblessandSearching.101GlobalLeadership LessonsforNurses:SharedLegaciesfromLeadersandtheirMentors,ed.NancyRollinsGantz. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International. •NurseLeader,April2007asthe“LeadertoWatch”. •Richards,K.(2007)“NurseEntrepreneurship:BravingtheDeep”inStringingPearls,abookthat highlights the personal journeys of twenty one of the nation’s outstanding nursing leaders. ed. Leslie Furlow. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.