Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to Reduce Burnout & Increase Resiliency in Med-Surg Nurses

A nursing shortage is predicted to grow over the next 20 years, with many nurses retiring and too few to replace them, making retention a critical issue. Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) programs to reduce burnout and are being used to reduce turnover, improve job satisfaction and patient outcomes. For this quality improvement initiative a four lesson online MBSR intervention was developed, aimed at reducing burnout and increasing resiliency among med-surg nurses, using surveys to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. The surveys included; the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Professional Quality of Life Scale and the Resiliency Scale to measure its impact. Qualitative data was also gathered throughout the intervention. The course intended to introduce the user to concepts such as; mindfulness, meditation, self-care, burnout, and compassion fatigue, with the end goal of developing a wellness plan. The intervention demonstrated no statistically significant improvement in burnout or resiliency. However, the findings revealed that the participants were more likely to be nurses with four or more years nursing experience and have clear career goals. The qualitative data suggested that healthy eating, physical exercise and meaningful recognition were priorities for the nurses to improve their overall well being and job satisfaction. This information can be used by the hospital administration as a starting point to create meaningful interventions for their nurses, offering CME credits for stress relief classes, introducing programs that encourage healthy eating and physical activity and explore effective ways to offer meaningful recognition at work.