Mindfulness-Based Nursing and Changes in Stress, Self-Care, and Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes: Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: Stress may limit self-care and glycaemic management in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but Indonesia has few nurse-led programmes that address stress, self-care, and blood glucose together. This study compared these outcomes after mindfulness-based nursing (MBN) and routine care.

Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study with a non-equivalent control group (TREND Statement) was conducted at a nursing clinic in Probolinggo, Indonesia (June 2026). We purposively recruited 58 adults aged 35–60 years with T2DM, excluding those with psychiatric disorders or regular mindfulness practice. We allocated them non-randomly to four weekly 50-minute MBN sessions (n = 29) or routine care without matched contact time (n = 29). Stress and self-care were measured by questionnaire and blood glucose by a single point-of-care reading. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to assess within-group change; because baselines differed, we used Welch’s t-test to compare change from baseline between groups (dppc2)—ethics approval: 272/KEPK-UNHASA/V/2026.

Results: With MBN, median stress fell from 50 to 21, self-care rose from 46 to 69, and blood glucose from 210 to 168 mg/dL; control-group stress rose from 57 to 66. Change from baseline favoured the intervention for stress (−25.48; 95% CI −36.36 to −14.60; dppc2 = −1.47), self-care (19.00; 6.56 to 31.44; dppc2 = 1.07), and blood glucose (−23.82 mg/dL; −42.58 to −5.06; dppc2 = −0.82).

Conclusion: MBN was associated with greater improvement in stress, self-care, and blood glucose than routine care. Non-random allocation and unmatched contact time preclude causal or mindfulness-specific attribution, and glycaemic control was not assessed. Randomised trials with attention-matched controls and HbA1c are needed.