Mindfulness in healthcare professionals and medical education

A literature review on mindfulness for healthcare professionals and medical students finds that mindfulness training improves mood, reduces stress, and enhances response to stimuli, potentially benefiting both practitioner well-being and patient care. The authors report beneficial effects on stress, depression, burnout, well-being, and empathy among doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. However, they note limitations including small sample sizes, high dropout rates, and discontinuation of practice after training ends. The authors call for further standardized research to confirm these impacts.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Healthcare professionals are exposed not only to the ubiquitous stress, but also to the culture of perfectionism. Therefore, they need tools to achieve a balance between work and rest in order to effectively help their patients. The study objective is a review of the literature on the implementation of mindfulness in healthcare professionals and medical students. The authors searched the literature in PubMed and Google Scholar databases for publications about “mindfulness” in “healthcare professionals” and “medical students.” The search included manuscripts published to July 31, 2019. Mindfulness is a process of intentional paying attention to experiencing the present moment with curiosity, openness and acceptance of each experience without judgment. Mindfulness training leads to a better mood perception, lower stress perception, and responding to stimuli more effectively. All these features can have a potentially positive effect on healthcare service. The paper describes methods of intervention as well as their effects, which may be useful both in maintaining the well-being of healthcare professionals and in patient care. Mindfulness meditation has a beneficial effect on stress, depression, burnout, well-being and empathy among doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. However, the method has a number of limitations, including a small number of participants, a high dropout rate in the intervention group and, above all, ceasing to practice mindfulness in the longer term after the course termination. Mindfulness can be widely implemented by healthcare professionals, thus improving their well-being and the quality of care they provide. Further standard scientific research is needed to confirm this impact. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2021;34(1):1–14