Journal article
Protective benefits of mindfulness in emergency room personnel.
- Westphal M Department of Psychology, Pace University, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, United States. Electronic address: mwestphal@pace.edu.
- Bingisser MB Emergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland.
- Feng T Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University, United States.
- Wall M Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University, United States.
- Blakley E Department of Psychology, Pace University, United States.
- Bingisser R Emergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland.
- Kleim B Department of Psychology, University of Zürich, Switzerland. Electronic address: b.kleim@psychologie.uzh.ch.
- 2015-01-20
Published in:
- Journal of affective disorders. - 2015
Anxiety
Burnout
Depression
Emergency care
Mindfulness
Nurses
Adult
Anxiety
Burnout, Professional
Conflict, Psychological
Depression
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Male
Mindfulness
Nurses
Protective Factors
Switzerland
Young Adult
English
BACKGROUND
Recent meta-analyses have found that mindfulness practice may reduce anxiety and depression in clinical populations and there is growing evidence that mindfulness may also improve well-being and quality of care in health professionals. This study examined whether mindfulness protects against the impact of work-related stress on mental health and burnout in emergency room (ER) nurses.
METHODS
ER nurses (N=50) were recruited from an urban teaching hospital in Switzerland and completed a survey on work-related stressors, mindfulness, burnout, depression, and anxiety.
RESULTS
The most frequently reported work-related stressor was interpersonal conflict. Nurses working more consecutive days since last taking time off were at greater risk for depression and those reporting more work-related interpersonal conflicts were at greater risk for burnout. Mindfulness was associated with reduced anxiety, depression, and burnout. Mindfulness was a significant predictor of anxiety, depression, and burnout and moderated the impact of work-related stressors on mental health and burnout.
LIMITATIONS
The sample is limited to nurses and results need to be replicated in other groups (e.g., medical staff or ambulance workers). We assessed clinical symptoms with questionnaires and it would be desirable to repeat this assessment with clinical diagnostic interviews.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings have implications for stress management in ER nurses and health professionals working in comparable settings (e.g., urgent care). The robust associations between mindfulness and multiple indices of psychological well-being suggest that ER staff exposed to high levels of occupational stress may benefit from mindfulness practice to increase resistance to mental health problems and burnout.
Recent meta-analyses have found that mindfulness practice may reduce anxiety and depression in clinical populations and there is growing evidence that mindfulness may also improve well-being and quality of care in health professionals. This study examined whether mindfulness protects against the impact of work-related stress on mental health and burnout in emergency room (ER) nurses.
METHODS
ER nurses (N=50) were recruited from an urban teaching hospital in Switzerland and completed a survey on work-related stressors, mindfulness, burnout, depression, and anxiety.
RESULTS
The most frequently reported work-related stressor was interpersonal conflict. Nurses working more consecutive days since last taking time off were at greater risk for depression and those reporting more work-related interpersonal conflicts were at greater risk for burnout. Mindfulness was associated with reduced anxiety, depression, and burnout. Mindfulness was a significant predictor of anxiety, depression, and burnout and moderated the impact of work-related stressors on mental health and burnout.
LIMITATIONS
The sample is limited to nurses and results need to be replicated in other groups (e.g., medical staff or ambulance workers). We assessed clinical symptoms with questionnaires and it would be desirable to repeat this assessment with clinical diagnostic interviews.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings have implications for stress management in ER nurses and health professionals working in comparable settings (e.g., urgent care). The robust associations between mindfulness and multiple indices of psychological well-being suggest that ER staff exposed to high levels of occupational stress may benefit from mindfulness practice to increase resistance to mental health problems and burnout.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- closed
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2014.12.038
- PMID 25597793
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/166083
Statistics
Document views: 27
File downloads: