Brief Mindfulness Meditation With Night Nursing Unit Staff

Marci Resnicoff; Kell N. Julliard

doi:10.1097/hnp.0000000000000293

Brief Mindfulness Meditation With Night Nursing Unit Staff

Marci Resnicoff, Kell N. Julliard

Holistic Nursing Practice October 15, 2018 DOI: 10.1097/hnp.0000000000000293 (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	Night-shift nurses and nursing assistants on an inpatient unit
Dose	2 to 5 minutes of guided mindfulness meditation
Duration	8 months of sessions, 3 times a week; perceptions gathered 6 months after sessions ended
Topics	Meditation
Citations	14
Key findings	Participants were initially slow to recognize the value of brief group mindfulness practice, but by the end all 10 felt positively about it. Most reported benefits for relationships with self and family, focus, teamwork, reduced stress, improved attitude, and increased compassion toward patients. The authors note that staff buy-in took time to achieve.

Abstract

Nurses and nursing assistants working at night on an inpatient unit are under signicant stress. Because mindfulness reduces stress and enhances workplace life, this qualitative study explored night shift staff attitudes toward brief group mindfulness practice. For 8 months, 3 times a week, the staff was called together at the nursing station around midnight and led through 2 to 5 minutes of guided mindfulness meditation. Six months after these groups ended, perceptions of this experience were gathered from 5 nurses and 5 nursing assistants via interviews and open-ended questionnaires. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, with themes identied as they emerged from the data. The study findings noted that several participants were slow to recognize the value of the practice, but this shifted so that by the end, all participants felt positively about participating. Most perceived its benet for themselves as well as for others in the following areas: relationship to self and family, ability to focus, teamwork, decreased stress, improved attitude, and increased compassion toward patients. This brief team mindfulness intervention had many benets for participants and patients but took time to achieve staff buy-in. Future research should examine the generalizability of these findings and clarify implementation strategies.

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

Citations in the library

Cited by 2

Cites 14

and 9 more in the library