Is there a difference between rest and relaxation? Yes. Rest tends to occur when we sleep and allows our body to repair itself on a cellular level, while relaxation is defined as a conscious activity that calms the body and mind. Relaxation is our mind’s way of rejuvenation and can help in reducing stress and/or anxiety. This means that rest occurs while we sleep, relaxation occurs while we’re awake. Relaxation helps us unwind; it does not necessarily make what one is worried about vanish. It may give you a mental break and help you refocus.
Rest and relaxation are also idioms that are associated with time spent resting and enjoying oneself. Both are crucial to obtaining optimal mental and physical functioning.
My thoughts on rest and relaxation come from my own experiences from the school of hard knocks and multiple readings over the years when I did direct patient care. Sleep, rest and relaxation are essential for bodily restoration, mental clarity and overall well being.
Barbara Nichols DNSc (hon) MS, RN, FAAN has vast experience in executive leadership and international initiatives. Her professional career spans four decades in leadership and policy making positions in professional associations and related health organizations. Throughout her career she has been a solid champion for the need to value diversity in all of its forms and a leading advocate for ethnic minority inclusion in all aspects of the health professions.
She is the former Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International, whose expertise provides credential validation, scope of practice standards and licensure of nurses and health professionals globally. Retiring in 2011 she presently serves as a national Diversity Consultant to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national implementation
of the Institute of Medicine Report: “The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity.”
She has been a consultant on credentials assessment and diversity to the Office of Minority Health, and the US Departments of Labor, State and the Department of Homeland Security. She was the first African American nurse in 100 years to be President of the American Nurses Association and the Wisconsin Nurses Association respectively. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the Wisconsin Center for Nursing.
Ms. Nichols is the recipient of five Honorary Doctoral degrees and numerous awards for her pioneering work and sustained contributions to the delivery of health care in urban and rural settings. Most recently, she was the 2015 recipient of the City of Madison’s Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award for her social justice advocacy and in 2022 she was inducted into the American Nurses Association (ANA) Hall of Fame.
She holds a Master of Science in Behavioral Disabilities from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Baccalaureate in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, and a diploma from Massachusetts Memorial Hospital School of Nursing.
She is married and the mother of identical twin sons, one daughter, and ten grandchildren.
