Elsevier

EXPLORE

Volume 7, Issue 2, March–April 2011, Pages 110-112
EXPLORE

Clinical article
Brief report
Evaluation of a Biofeedback-Assisted Meditation Program as a Stress Management Tool for Hospital Nurses: A Pilot Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2010.12.004Get rights and content

Objective

To assess whether a self-directed, computer-guided meditation training program is useful for stress reduction in hospital nurses.

Design

We prospectively evaluated participants before and after a month-long meditation program. The meditation program consisted of 15 computer sessions that used biofeedback to reinforce training. Participants were instructed to practice the intervention for 30 minutes per session, four times a week, for four weeks. Visual analogue scales were used to measure stress, anxiety, and quality of life (assessments were performed using Linear Analogue Self-Assessment [LASA], State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI], and Short-Form 36 [SF-36] questionnaires). Differences in scores from baseline to the study's end were compared using the paired t test.

Results

Eleven registered nurses not previously engaged in meditation were enrolled; eight completed the study. Intent-to-treat analysis showed significant improvement in stress management, as measured by SF-36 vitality subscale (P = .04), STAI (P = .03), LASA stress (P = .01), and LASA anxiety (P = .01). Nurses were highly satisfied with the meditation program, rating it 8.6 out of 10.

Conclusions

The results of this pilot study suggest the feasibility and efficacy of a biofeedback-assisted, self-directed, meditation training program to help hospital nurses reduce their stress and anxiety. Optimal frequency of use of the program, as well as the duration of effects, should be addressed in future studies.

Introduction

Stress is ubiquitous. Chronic stress in particular may have deleterious health effects such as increased risk of sudden death,1, 2 myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction risk, and worse prognosis after myocardial infarction,3 impaired quality of life,4 increased blood pressure and blood viscosity, and decreased insulin sensitivity.5

Nurses experience significant stress in the hospital setting.6, 7, 8 Existing literature9, 10, 11 suggests that meditation is an effective therapy for stress management. This pilot study was conducted to collect preliminary data regarding the effectiveness of a commercial, biofeedback-assisted meditation program as a stress management tool for hospital nurses.

Section snippets

Participants

This study was approved by the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board and registered as NCT01011790 at ClinicalTrials.gov. We conducted a four-week, early phase trial from June 11, 2008, through July 30, 2008. Participants were registered nurses recruited from St Marys Hospital (Rochester, MN). Invitation to participate in the study was sent out to staff nurses and clinical nurse specialists who care for critically ill patients at our institution.

Study Design and Intervention

Participants underwent prospective evaluation

Results

Eleven nurses were enrolled in the study; eight completed the intervention. The median age was 44 years (range, 23-61 years). Baseline characteristics and postintervention outcomes are shown in Table 2. The nurses who completed the meditation program were highly satisfied with it, rating it 8.6 out of 10 points. Three nurses did not finish the study. They felt overwhelmed by a combination of personal and professional challenges that led to unexpected increases in time demands. As a result, they

Discussion

This pilot study showed that a self-directed, computer-guided, meditation training program can be useful for stress reduction in hospital nurses. This is an important finding because nurses in the hospital setting can experience varying levels of stress.6, 7 A survey of 1,551 nurses in Japanese hospitals8 reported that work in operating rooms was associated with fatigue, work in intensive care units was associated with anxiety, and work in surgery and internal medicine was associated with

References (16)

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Conflict of interest: None.

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