The Power of Humour

The Positive Psychology Wellbeing Toolkit for Nurses Series - The Power of Humour

This is the tenth article of The Positive Psychology Wellbeing Toolkit for Nurses Series

Key points

• Humour is viewed as one character strength that is essential to the flourishing and thriving of humankind
• Laughter is strong ‘medicine’ and is abundant in health care
• Nurses are adept at using spontaneous humour to improve relationships and deal with potentially sensitive topics

This tenth article outlines a range of flow based interventions that recognises the importance of humour for staff wellbeing.

Humour in healthcare has been linked positively with providing comfort, raising difficult questions, relieving tension and developing resilience. It assists in managing threatening situations.

What is humour?

Humour is universally recognised as a natural part of human existence through the life cycle and is part of everyday life. It often contains incongruous ideas that make people laugh. It helps