The Impact of a Mindfulness-based Intervention on Stress and Self-compassion among Nurses: A Quasi-experimental Study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Nurses play a vital role in hospitals as well as other medical settings. They often deal with a lot of stress and effort. Clinical posting at the hospital has been linked to adverse health and work outcomes for many staff nurses due to stress, worry, pressure, and exhaustion. Reduced stress, anxiety, and discontent are the stated goals of this study, which assesses the efficacy of a mindfulness intervention for pediatric nurses. Methodology: This research adopted a quantitative evaluative approach and employed a quasi-experimental, nonrandomized comparison group design, and a purposive sampling technique was used to draw the samples. The investigation was conducted at selected pediatric hospitals within Vijayapura, Karnataka, among the 96 pediatric nurses. Results: The research findings indicated a significant increase in the mean posttest self-compassion score compared to the pretest score, with a t-value of 152.24 at a significance level of P = 0.05. The study demonstrated that mindfulness-based training effectively enhanced self-compassion among experimental staff nurses, as evidenced by a significant improvement at a 5% significance level and 94° of freedom. Furthermore, the Chi-square test revealed a strong association between stress levels and posting area in the interventional group, with a χ2 = 10.725 and 2° of freedom at a significance level of 0.05%. Specifically, a significant correlation was found between family type and the number of children in the family in the interventional group (χ2 = 6.883 with 2° of freedom; χ2 = 9.063), whereas no other variables significantly impacted self-compassion in this group. In contrast, none of the demographic variables had a significant effect on self-compassion in the comparison group. Conclusion: The researcher showed that the mindfulness stress reduction intervention decreased stress and increased self-compassion among pediatric hospital staff nurses. Nursing administrators could use this cost-effective solution to reduce nurse stress in clinical settings.