The Effect of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program on Professional Quality of Life and Perceived Stress Level of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Nurses

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Pediatric oncology-hematology nurses are at risk for compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress. It was aimed to determine the effect of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on the level of pediatric hematology-oncology nurses' professional quality of life and perceived stress. Methods A pre-test, post-test, one-group quasi-experimental study was conducted with pediatric oncology-hematology nurses between November 15, 2021, and June 15, 2022. MBSR program was applied to the nurses as sessions lasting 60–90 minutes once a week for eight weeks. Data was collected by the 'Nurse Information Form', the 'Professional Quality of Life Scale-IV', and the 'Perceived Stress Scale'. Results The mean age of the nurses was 42.80 ± 7.09, 95% of them female, and 45.0% of them had bachelor’s degrees. After the MBSR program, the mean compassion fatigue (14.10 ± 6.31), and burnout (18.45 ± 5.73) scores of nurses decreased statistically significantly compared to before (respectively 16.75 ± 7.03; p = 0.014; 21.10 ± 7.14; p = 0.017). No statistically significant difference was found between the mean scores of compassion satisfaction (CS) and the level of perceived stress of nurses pre- and post-intervention (p > 0.05). Conclusions It was determined that the MBSR program decreased the level of burnout and compassion fatigue of pediatric hematology-oncology nurses but, it did not affect the level of perceived stress and CS.