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Mantra meditation programme for emergency department staff: a qualitative study.

Julie Lynch, Lucia Prihodova, Pádraic J Dunne, Caoimhe O'Leary, Rachel Breen, Áine Carroll, Cathal Walsh, Geraldine McMahon, Barry White

BMJ Open September 24, 2018 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020685 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Sample size 10
Population Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and administrative staff working in an emergency department in Dublin, Ireland
Intervention Mantra meditation programme
Topics Meditation
Keywords Emergency medicine Healthcare professionals Mantra Qualitative research Wellbeing
Key findings Emergency department staff who attended a mantra meditation programme reported increased attention and awareness, improved emotion regulation, new coping mechanisms, relaxation, and better sleep, alongside barriers like scheduling and individual differences.

Abstract

Rates of burnout and stress in healthcare practitioners are steadily increasing. Emergency department (ED) staff are particularly susceptible to such poor outcomes. Mantra meditation (MM) may contribute to increased well-being. The primary aim of this study was to obtain indepth qualitative feedback on ED staff's experience of a MM programme. A secondary objective was to harness staff's perception of the ED working environment. Qualitative study. ED in St James' Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and administrative staff (n=10, eight women, mean age 35.6 years) working in the ED who attended a MM programme. Semistructured interviews were conducted by a trained independent researcher. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. Five main themes and six subthemes were identified: work pressure and perceived stress; perceived benefits of meditation (with subthemes of increased attention/awareness, improved emotion regulation and new coping mechanisms, relaxation and sleep quality); conflicting attitudes to practice; barriers to meditation practice (with subthemes of schedule, length of practice and individual differences); and facilitators to practice. ED staff in this study described the demands of their work and voiced a need for a workplace well-being programme. Our findings suggest that MM might represent a viable tool to develop attention and awareness, improve emotion regulation and improve their capacity to cope with stress, which may impact their workplace well-being, wider health service, patient safety and quality of care. Support from the organisation is considered to be integral to embedding of a workplace well-being programme, such as the practice of meditation into their daily lives.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... 2017 Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system 2004 Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context 2001 Qualitative study n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators 2013 Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

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