The effectiveness of mindfulness practices in reducing burnout in nurses

Abstract

Brief overview of the topic: Nurse burnout is a global issue; they regularly experience high stress levels and burnout symptoms due to their demanding nature of their work. Meditative interventions have been found to decrease these psychological distresses and improve the well-being; however, studies are still being carried out about its effectiveness as an intervention. The aim of this dissertation is to understand how effective mindfulness practices are in reducing burnout in nurses. Research question: Using the PEO framework, the research question “Is mindfulness practice effective in reducing burnout in nurses”? was formulated. PEO Elements: Population (P): nurses, Exposure (E): Mindfulness practices, Outcome (O): reduced burnout. Methods: From the established PEO elements, alternative terms were generated. A search strategy was then formulated using Boolean operators and limiters. For a further comprehensive search, different databases were accessed being; Hydi, EBSCO, PubMed and Google Scholar, where a manual search was conducted. The PRISMA 2009 checklist was utilized to distinguish and reject unessential articles. A set of inclusion and exclusion criteria were constituted to additionally appraise the articles’ eligibility. Articles included were in the English language, peer reviewed and maximum 10-year old. Studies that had reduced stress and burnout in nurses and health care professionals (HCPs) were included, whilst others that tackled different populations and outcomes were not. As for the study design, only the best sources of evidence were accepted to answer this PEO question. Seven articles were identified; 3 Meta-analysis, 2 Systematic reviews and 2 Randomised control trials (RCTs). The CASP tool for systematic reviews and RCTs were used to critically appraise the articles. 3 Results: All seven articles have statistically shown significant results in highlighting the fact that mindfulness practices reduce burnout and other domains like stress, exhaustion, anxiety and depression in nurses and HCPs. Conclusions: All key articles concluded that the intervention can be implemented in practice. Implications and recommendations: Local studies with a large sample size is necessary, as non were found, to identify if mindfulness interventions are effective in the Maltese population. Future research should focus to avoid self-selection sampling to eliminate selection bias, and avoid non-compliance by finding a short yet effective mindfulness practice for busy nurses.