Abstract
Background: Healthcare personnel (HCP) are at high risk of stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue (CF). Up to 50% of physicians and 33% of nurses experience burnout in the United States. Higher rates of burnout were noted during the recent SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic due to the increased need for mental health services among patients and HCP.
Problem: Stress, burnout, and CF are associated with increased medical errors, poor patient safety, and higher staff turnover rates. One-third of nurses report they intend to leave the profession because of burnout which contributes to financial burden for hospitals. A higher nurse turnover rate has been noted in the in-patient acute psychiatric setting, up to 55%, due to a stressful working environment. Although mindfulness-based interventions have been associated with reduced stress and burnout in several groups (e.g., students and veterans), mindfulness-based self-care measures are currently not well promoted in clinical settings.
Methods: An integrated literature review was conducted to find the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in reducing stress, burnout, and CF in HCPs. Based on evidence, an MBI toolkit was developed, implemented, and evaluated. A seven-item pre-post-intervention survey was used to measure the knowledge about self-care, mindfulness, and the use of MBIs among the psychiatric healthcare staff. An open-ended question was used to get feedback about the toolkit.
Interventions: A mindfulness-based self-care toolkit was designed, implemented, and evaluated. To practice various MBIs, initial and weekly 30-minute practice sessions were conducted for four weeks. Resources like flyers and posters were used to educate staff about various MBIs.
Results: Twenty-one participants completed pre-post surveys. Results showed that the knowledge about the importance of self-care to prevent stress, burnout, and CF increased by 78.50%. Similarly, there was a 59.54% increase in knowledge about mindfulness and a 103% increase in the use of MBIs by staff. The open-ended question indicated the relevancy and usefulness of the toolkit and the need for in-person sessions for mindfulness practice.
Conclusions: The toolkit increased knowledge about mindfulness-based self-care among psychiatric hospital staff. The drastic increase in staff’s use of MBIs can indicate healthcare staff’s interest in adopting MBIs for self-care. However, the findings cannot be generalized due to a small sample size. Future research can be focused on comparing the feasibility and effectiveness of various MBIs among HCPs.
