Investigating the Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Stress Reduction and Self-Compassion of Nursing Health Care Professionals in a Small Community Hospital in the Midwest

Abstract

Coronavirus-19 exacerbated daily stressors for nurses due to long hours, understaffing, and potential burnout in health care personnel. There is evidence that nurses who participate in mindfulness activities may experience significant changes related to stress, anxiety, and mood; however, more quantitative research studies are needed to investigate and substantiate the impact of mindfulness-based interventions. This intervention investigated the impact of a 4-week mindfulness meditation on perceived stress and self-compassion. Thirty-two participants were enrolled at the beginning of the study and 26 completed the intervention (intervention group, n = 17; control group, n = 9). A 2-tailed Mann-Whitney U sample rank-sum test was used to explore differences between groups on the 2 outcome variables—Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Self-Compassion Scale (SC). Postintervention assessments were conducted, and statistically significant differences were found between the intervention and control groups for 2 constructs. The intervention group was more likely to “feel confident handling problems” (PSS#4) versus the control group (median = 11.76, 16.78, respectively; P = .020; α = .05); and the intervention group tended to “take a more balanced view of life situations” (SC#3) than the control group (median = 12.50, 15.39, respectively; P =.047; α = .05). Other constructs from the PSS and the SC were not statistically different. In conclusion, this study found observable improvements in the raw data and statistically significant differences for the intervention group; however, more research is warranted.