The Effectiveness and Safety of Mind-Body Modalities for Mental Health of Nurses in Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review

Relationships Among Secondary Traumatic Stress, Mindfulness, Compassion Satisfaction, and Compassion Fatigue in Psychiatric Nurses

PURPOSE

To examine relationships among secondary traumatic stress, mindfulness, compassion satisfaction, and compassion fatigue in psychiatric nurses.

METHOD

Participants comprised 142 nurses working in two psychiatric hospitals in the same province of Turkey. Data were collected using a personal information form, the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, and Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction subscales of the Professional Quality of Life Scale.

RESULTS

A significant and negative correlation was found between secondary traumatic stress, mindfulness, and compassion satisfaction, and between mindfulness and compassion fatigue. A significant and positive correlation was found between secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue, as well as between mindfulness and compassion satisfaction (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Findings demonstrate that mindfulness may be a protective factor in preventing secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue in psychiatric nurses. It is recommended that in-service training be organized periodically to increase levels of conscious awareness among psychiatric nurses. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, xx(xx), xx-xx.].

Effects of standardized mindfulness programs on burnout: a systematic review and original analysis from randomized controlled trials

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic occupational stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism toward work, and a lack of personal accomplishment at work. Recent WHO guidelines on mental health suggest that mindfulness could have beneficial effects in a professional environment, but to the best of our knowledge, there is currently no study that has made a large inventory of research focused specifically on the effects of standardized programs on burnout. Which professional populations have already been studied? What are the characteristics of the programs? Have studies shown a significant effect and on what indicator?

Objective

To assess the effects of standardized programs of mindfulness on burnout, we carried out a systematic review using an exhaustive inventory of the international literature based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Methods

The articles were selected according to PRISMA recommendations. The Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, HAL databases were searched with the keywords "mindfulness," "burnout," and "randomized" in the title and abstract of each article. The data were all collected in an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed in pivot tables, which were then presented in graphs and maps.

Results

A total of 49 RCTs were thus selected, the majority of which were of good methodological quality, of American origin (43% of studies), concerned professionals in the health sector (64% of participants included), and mostly women (76%). The RCTs assessed the effects of 31 different mindfulness programs, mostly with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (78% of RCTs). More than two-thirds of RCTs (67%) showed a significant beneficial effect on burnout measurement indicators, with emotional exhaustion being the most impacted component.

Conclusion

This systematic review shows that mindfulness-based interventions could be approaches of choice to prevent emotional distress of burnout. Further studies are still needed to determine which type of program is best suited to impact the two other components of burnout.

Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing psychological distress among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

PURPOSE

Nurses increasingly use mindfulness as an effective mental health intervention to reduce psychological distress. The effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions remains inconclusive, which may lead to implementation of interventions in an inefficient or ineffective manner. This study aimed to examine the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched using six databases published through May 20, 2023, which evaluated the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing psychological distress among nurses. To assess the quality of methodology included in the RCTs, version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias instrument for RCTs with five domains was used. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using the random-effects model in the meta-analyses. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's regression test. Further, the robustness effect size of the pooled analysis was assessed using leave-one-out sensitivity analysis.

FINDINGS

A total of 16 RCTs were included in the final analysis. Overall, the modalities appeared to alleviate stress (pooled SMD: -0.50 [95% CI: -0.82 to -0.18]; p < 0.001) and depression (pooled SMD: -0.42 [95% CI: -0.78 to -0.06]; p = 0.02) among nurses.

CONCLUSION

Mindfulness-based interventions appear to alleviate stress and depression in nurses. Future research evaluating mindfulness-based interventions among working nurses with more rigorous methodological and larger sample size.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Support for nurses' mental health must be included while implementing personal and professional development plans.

A cognitive-behavioral skills building program improves mental health and enhances healthy lifestyle behaviors in nurses and other hospital employees

BACKGROUND

Mental health outcomes in nurses have historically indicated a greater prevalence of anxiety, depression, and suicide than the general population. It is vital to provide programming for healthcare workers to gain the necessary skills to reduce burnout and improve their mental and physical health.

AIMS

The aims of this study were to evaluate mental health outcomes and healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors among nurses and other hospital employees who completed MINDBODYSTRONG, a cognitive-behavioral skill building program.

METHODS

A pre-experimental, pre- and poststudy design was used to examine mental health and well-being outcomes among 100 hospital personnel who participated in MINDBODYSTRONG, a program designed to improve coping and resiliency and decrease stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Outcomes measured included healthy lifestyle behaviors, healthy lifestyle beliefs, anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout.

RESULTS

One hundred hospital personnel, including 93 nurses, completed the pre- and post-survey. Among all participants, post- MINDBODYSTRONG scores for healthy lifestyle beliefs (p = .00; Cohen's d = 0.52) and healthy lifestyle behaviors (p = .00; Cohen's d = -0.74) increased significantly with medium effects, while depression (p = .00; Cohen's d = -0.51), anxiety (p = .00; Cohen's d = -0.54), stress (p = .00; Cohen's d = -0.33), and burnout (p = .00; Cohen's d = -0.37) decreased significantly with small and medium effects. The program produced even stronger positive effects on mental health outcomes for participants who started the study with higher levels of depression and anxiety.

LINKING EVIDENCE TO PRACTICE

Anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout decreased significantly postintervention. Participants also significantly improved their healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors with the MINDBODYSTRONG program. MINDBODYSTRONG is an effective program that reduces anxiety, depression, burnout, and stress and improves healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors in hospital-based clinicians. It is of utmost importance to provide evidence-based programs to improve mental resiliency and decrease stress, anxiety, burnout, and depressive symptoms, which will ultimately improve the safety and quality of health care.

Individual-level interventions for reducing occupational stress in healthcare workers

BACKGROUND

Healthcare workers can suffer from work-related stress as a result of an imbalance of demands, skills and social support at work. This may lead to stress, burnout and psychosomatic problems, and deterioration of service provision. This is an update of a Cochrane Review that was last updated in 2015, which has been split into this review and a review on organisational-level interventions.  OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of stress-reduction interventions targeting individual healthcare workers compared to no intervention, wait list, placebo, no stress-reduction intervention or another type of stress-reduction intervention in reducing stress symptoms.  SEARCH METHODS: We used the previous version of the review as one source of studies (search date: November 2013). We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science and a trials register from 2013 up to February 2022.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials (RCT) evaluating the effectiveness of stress interventions directed at healthcare workers. We included only interventions targeted at individual healthcare workers aimed at reducing stress symptoms.  DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Review authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We categorised interventions into ones that: 1. focus one's attention on the (modification of the) experience of stress (thoughts, feelings, behaviour);  2. focus one's attention away from the experience of stress by various means of psychological disengagement (e.g. relaxing, exercise);  3. alter work-related risk factors on an individual level; and ones that 4. combine two or more of the above.  The crucial outcome measure was stress symptoms measured with various self-reported questionnaires such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), measured at short term (up to and including three months after the intervention ended), medium term (> 3 to 12 months after the intervention ended), and long term follow-up (> 12 months after the intervention ended).  MAIN RESULTS: This is the second update of the original Cochrane Review published in 2006, Issue 4. This review update includes 89 new studies, bringing the total number of studies in the current review to 117 with a total of 11,119 participants randomised.  The number of participants per study arm was ≥ 50 in 32 studies. The most important risk of bias was the lack of blinding of participants.  Focus on the experience of stress versus no intervention/wait list/placebo/no stress-reduction intervention Fifty-two studies studied an intervention in which one's focus is on the experience of stress. Overall, such interventions may result in a reduction in stress symptoms in the short term (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.52 to -0.23; 41 RCTs; 3645 participants; low-certainty evidence) and medium term (SMD -0.43, 95% CI -0.71 to -0.14; 19 RCTs; 1851 participants; low-certainty evidence). The SMD of the short-term result translates back to 4.6 points fewer on the MBI-emotional exhaustion scale (MBI-EE, a scale from 0 to 54). The evidence is very uncertain (one RCT; 68 participants, very low-certainty evidence) about the long-term effect on stress symptoms of focusing one's attention on the experience of stress. Focus away from the experience of stress versus no intervention/wait list/placebo/no stress-reduction intervention  Forty-two studies studied an intervention in which one's focus is away from the experience of stress. Overall, such interventions may result in a reduction in stress symptoms in the short term (SMD -0.55, 95 CI -0.70 to -0.40; 35 RCTs; 2366 participants; low-certainty evidence) and medium term (SMD -0.41 95% CI -0.79 to -0.03; 6 RCTs; 427 participants; low-certainty evidence). The SMD on the short term translates back to 6.8 fewer points on the MBI-EE. No studies reported the long-term effect. Focus on work-related, individual-level factors versus no intervention/no stress-reduction intervention Seven studies studied an intervention in which the focus is on altering work-related factors. The evidence is very uncertain about the short-term effects (no pooled effect estimate; three RCTs; 87 participants; very low-certainty evidence) and medium-term effects and long-term effects (no pooled effect estimate; two RCTs; 152 participants, and one RCT; 161 participants, very low-certainty evidence) of this type of stress management intervention.  A combination of individual-level interventions versus no intervention/wait list/no stress-reduction intervention Seventeen studies studied a combination of interventions. In the short-term, this type of intervention may result in a reduction in stress symptoms (SMD -0.67 95%, CI -0.95 to -0.39; 15 RCTs; 1003 participants; low-certainty evidence). The SMD translates back to 8.2 fewer points on the MBI-EE. On the medium term, a combination of individual-level interventions may result in a reduction in stress symptoms, but the evidence does not exclude no effect (SMD -0.48, 95% CI -0.95 to 0.00; 6 RCTs; 574 participants; low-certainty evidence). The evidence is very uncertain about the long term effects of a combination of interventions on stress symptoms (one RCT, 88 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Focus on stress versus other intervention type  Three studies compared focusing on stress versus focusing away from stress and one study a combination of interventions versus focusing on stress. The evidence is very uncertain about which type of intervention is better or if their effect is similar.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Our review shows that there may be an effect on stress reduction in healthcare workers from individual-level stress interventions, whether they focus one's attention on or away from the experience of stress. This effect may last up to a year after the end of the intervention. A combination of interventions may be beneficial as well, at least in the short term. Long-term effects of individual-level stress management interventions remain unknown. The same applies for interventions on (individual-level) work-related risk factors. The bias assessment of the studies in this review showed the need for methodologically better-designed and executed studies, as nearly all studies suffered from poor reporting of the randomisation procedures, lack of blinding of participants and lack of trial registration. Better-designed trials with larger sample sizes are required to increase the certainty of the evidence. Last, there is a need for more studies on interventions which focus on work-related risk factors.

Effects of coping on nurses' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating role of social support and psychological resilience

BACKGROUND

Fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, front-line nurses were under unprecedented psychological pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to promptly evaluate the psychological status of nurses during the COVID-19 epidemic period.

AIM

To investigate nurses' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to test the mediating role of social support and psychological resilience between coping and mental health.

DESIGN

This was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey which used a structural equation model.

METHOD

In total, 711 registered nurses were included. All participants were invited to complete a socio-demographic questionnaire, the general health questionnaire, the trait coping style questionnaire, the perceived social support scale and the Conner-Davidson Resilience scale.

RESULTS

In total, 50.1% nurses had high risk of mental health. Positive coping positively affected social support and psychological resilience, while it negatively affected mental health. Negative coping negatively affected social support and psychological resilience, while it positively affected mental health. Social support positively affected psychological resilience, while it negatively affected mental health. In addition, social support mediated coping and psychological resilience, and coping and mental health. Moreover, psychological resilience negatively affected mental health, and it mediated coping and mental health.

The First Attempt to Apply an Online Mindfulness Program to Nursing Staff in a Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic in COVID-19 Era: A Case Series

The importance of medical personnel's mental health is emphasized in the COVID-19 era. The characteristics of traditional Korean medicine (KM) may affect the mental health of nursing staff working at KM clinics. In this case series, we report the first attempt to apply an online mindfulness program to the nursing staff in a KM clinic in Korea. For three female nursing assistants, an online mindfulness program consisting of five sessions was offered for two months. After the program, a decrease in emotional labor was observed in two participants, and a decrease in the level of burnout was observed in all participants. One participant showed an increase in their emotional labor level, which was associated with an increase in deep acting. The participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with this program in terms of recommendations for peers and willingness to participate again. As this report is a case series, larger studies are needed to fully evaluate the benefits of the program on emotional labor and burnout of KM clinic nursing staff. However, the potential benefits of emotional labor and burnout, high satisfaction, and some challenges identified in this case series can be considered in future extensions and modifications of the program.

Associations between compassion fatigue, burnout and secondary traumatic stress with lifestyle factors in mental health nurses: A multicenter study from Uganda

PURPOSE

This cross-sectional study aimed (a) to explore levels of compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and symptoms of burnout among Ugandan mental health nurses working in regional referral hospitals in Uganda during the Covid-19 pandemic, and (b) to investigate associations between compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and symptoms of burnout and sedentary levels, physical activity (PA) levels, sleep quality, and harmful drinking.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In total 108 mental health nurses from 8 regional referral hospitals across Uganda (age = 34.8 ± 10.0 years; 55.6 % female) completed the Professional Quality of Life Scale-5, (PQoLS-5), the Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ), Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test - Concise (AUDIT-C). Spearman Rho correlations and Mann-Whitney U tests were applied.

RESULTS

ProQOL-5 compassion satisfaction correlated significantly with SIMPAQ walking, PSQI and AUDIT-C, ProQOL-5 burnout with SIMPAQ exercise and PSQI and ProQOL-5 traumatic with SIMPAQ walking and PSQI. Mental health nurses meeting PA guidelines reported higher ProQOL-5 compassion satisfaction and lower ProQOL-5 burnout and traumatic stress than those who did not. Those who reported a poor sleep quality reported significantly less ProQOL-5 compassion satisfaction and higher ProQOL-5 burnout than those who did not. Those who reported harmful drinking patterns reported a significantly lower compassion satisfaction versus those who did not.

DISCUSSION

In mental health nurses, a lower professional quality of life is associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. The effectiveness and efficacy of resilience and self-care programs for mental health nurses focusing on unhealthy lifestyle patterns should be explored.

Systematic Review of Mind–Body Modalities to Manage the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Era

Healthcare workers (HCWs) have suffered physical and psychological threats since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Mind-body modalities (MBMs) can reduce the long-term adverse health effects associated with COVID-specific chronic stress. This systematic review aims to investigate the role of MBMs in managing the mental health of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. A comprehensive search was conducted using 6 electronic databases, resulting in 18 clinical studies from 2019 to September 2021. Meta-analysis showed that MBMs significantly improved the perceived stress of HCWs (standardized mean difference, −0.37; 95% confidence intervals, −0.53 to −0.21). In addition, some MBMs had significant positive effects on psychological trauma, burnout, insomnia, anxiety, depression, self-compassion, mindfulness, quality of life, resilience, and well-being, but not psychological trauma and self-efficacy of HCWs. This review provides data supporting the potential of some MBMs to improve the mental health of HCWs during COVID-19. However, owing to poor methodological quality and heterogeneity of interventions and outcomes of the included studies, further high-quality clinical trials are needed on this topic in the future.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related stress experienced by Australian nurses

Globally, the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers' mental health has been a major focus of recent research. However, Australian research involving nurses, particularly across the acute care sector, is limited. This cross-sectional research aimed to explore the impact of pandemic-related stress on psychological adjustment outcomes and potential protective factors for nurses (n = 767) working in the Australian acute care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses completed an online questionnaire with psychometrically validated measures of pandemic-related stress, psychological adjustment outcomes (depression, anxiety, and subjective well-being), and protective factors (posttraumatic growth and self-compassion). Descriptive analyses revealed that pandemic-related stress was reported by 17.7% of the participants. Psychological adjustment outcome scores above normal for depression (27.5%) and anxiety (22.0%) were found, and 36.4% of the participants reported poor subjective well-being. Regression analyses suggest that pandemic-related stress predicted greater depression (B = 0.32, SE = 0.02, 95% confidence interval [0.28, 0.35]) and anxiety (B = 0.26, SE = 0.01, 95% confidence interval [0.24, 0.29]) and less subjective well-being (B = -0.14, SE = 0.01, 95% confidence interval [-0.16, -0.12]). Self-compassion weakened the relationship between pandemic-related stress and greater depression, however, exacerbated the relationship between pandemic-related stress and less subjective well-being. Posttraumatic growth reduced the negative relationship between pandemic-related stress and psychological adjustment outcomes. These findings will inform strategies to facilitate psychological resources that support nurses' psychological adjustment, enabling better pandemic preparedness at both an individual and organizational level.

Emotional Labor, Burnout, Medical Error, and Turnover Intention among South Korean Nursing Staff in a University Hospital Setting

Nurses are vulnerable to mental health challenges, including burnout, as they are exposed to adverse job conditions such as high workload. The mental health of this population can relate not only to individual well-being but also to patient safety outcomes. Therefore, there is a need for a mental health improvement strategy that targets this population. This cross-sectional survey study investigates emotional labor, burnout, turnover intention, and medical error levels among 117 nursing staff members in a South Korean university hospital; it also analyzes correlations among outcomes and conduct correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis to determine relationships among these factors. The participants had moderate to high levels of emotional labor and burnout, and 23% had experienced medical errors within the last six months. Save for medical errors, all outcomes significantly and positively correlated with each other. These results can be used to improve the mental health outcomes of nurses working in the hospital and their consequences. Specifically, the job positions of nursing personnel may be a major consideration in such a strategy, and job-focused emotional labor and employee-focused emotional labor may be promising targets in ameliorating turnover intention and client-related burnout, respectively.