February 18, 2025
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Lack of energy. Emotional exhaustion. Stress. These are all factors that can lead to nursing burnout, a growing issue in the health care industry.
Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found mindfulness can help combat the negative impact of workplace stress and improve well-being.
The study, published in AIMS Public Health, evaluated the effects of an evidence-based mindfulness intervention on perceived stress, burnout, resilience and work engagement in nursing professionals. Those who completed the program had a significant 36% reduction in burnout.
“Nursing professionals face high levels of persistent stress that lead to symptoms of burnout and other negative mental health outcomes,” said Maryanna Klatt, PhD, lead author, director of the Center for Integrative Health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and clinical professor of family medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “Mindfulness-based interventions can be used to build individual resilience, buffer the detrimental effects of occupational stress and enhance professional well-being.”
The research team followed 631 health care workers, including 128 registered nurses and advanced practice nurses, participating in an 8-week evidence-based mindfulness program at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. The Mindfulness in Motion program teaches health care workers practical burnout/stress reduction and resiliency building techniques. They learn how to identify stressors, employ emotional regulation, cultivate effective sleep habits and accept the uncontrollable.
Delivered virtually in a group format, Mindfulness in Motion includes educational instruction, community-building group discussion, relaxing music, mindfulness and gentle yoga. The employees were encouraged to engage in 2–8 minutes of individual self-practice at least five times per week.
Participants took surveys that measured burnout, perceived stress, resilience and work engagement before starting the program and when it was completed. All health care workers experienced a 26% drop in burnout, but the rate was higher among nurses.
“The number of nursing professionals who no longer qualified as burned out was 10% higher than the other participants,” Klatt said. “This reduction in burnout among nurses may reflect the combination of obtaining these individual skill sets and working for an employer that values their well-being. This could be crucial to understanding how health care leadership can maintain employee satisfaction among the largest group of health professionals within a health system.”
Klatt also said financially supporting and encouraging nursing staff to engage in interventions such as Mindfulness in Motion may reduce nursing turnover and the number of sick days used by staff.
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