21.6 The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Meditation and Nursing Education in Decreasing the Events of Insomnia, Emotional, and Behavioral Disturbances in an Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation practices have become increasingly popular in schools and medical settings. Meditation practices for insomnia is a safe, relatively inexpensive, low-risk, and easy-to-implement option for people who have difficulty accessing other types of therapy or medication. These interventions are relatively safer than pharmacological interventions and can have potential long-term benefits. This poster will analyze the reduction in the number of medications used to treat insomnia and affective disturbances in an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit. Ten-minute mindfulness meditation groups were conducted on the unit as a part of a quality improvement project. This intervention was carried out 5 days a week for a total period of 3 months. Handouts were given to nursing staff on how to manage insomnia and agitation on the unit. Data were collected on the number of as-needed or emergent medications used to treat insomnia or agitation 3 months prior to the intervention and 3 months during the period of the study and then compared. A total of 51 adolescents admitted to the unit during the 3-month period of the study participated in the meditation groups. When compared to the baseline data of 42 adolescents in the 3 months prior to the initiation of the intervention, mean events of oral, as-needed, or emergent medications for agitation or insomnia decreased from 6.3 to 4.1 per adolescent (p > 0.05), and mean events of any medication, oral or intramuscular, prescribed for insomnia or agitation decreased from 6.8 to 4.6 per adolescent (p > 0.05). After comparing the 2 groups, there was a decrease in the number of episodes of agitation and insomnia on the unit; however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Mindfulness meditation can be an effective strategy to reduce events of insomnia or agitation on the unit, and further studies may help in determining the effectiveness of this modality.