nurses and nurse students stress reduction

Foureur, M., Besley, K., Burton, G., et al. (). Enhancing the resilience of nurses and midwives: Pilot of a mindfulness based program for increased health, sense of coherence and decreased depression, anxiety and stress. Contemporary Nurse 45(1): 114-125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2013.45.1.114

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, this is a mixed-methods research report combining qualitative and quantitative methods. The authors point out that stress management among nurses is not taught in nursing school or socialized in healthcare organizations. As a result, nurses suffer from high levels of stress and burnout, which is not only detrimental to their physical and mental health but also impacts patient outcomes and organizational performance. The quantitative study used a pre-test and post-test design after an 8-week pilot project intervention, which was the Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness-based stress reduction program. In addition to the pre-test and post-test questionnaires offering quantitative data, the researchers used qualitative methods including a focus group to analyze results. Overall, this article is accessible and the mixed methods approach adds internal validity to the study.

Hayes, B., Bonner, A., Pryor, J., et al. (2010). Factors contributing to nurse job satisfaction in the acute hospital setting: a review of recent literature. Journal of Nursing Management 18(7): 804-814. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01131.x

Exploring recent literature on nurse job satisfaction in acute care settings, the authors conduct a systematic review of literature using core search terms related to stress and job satisfaction. A total of 44 factors were analyzed overall, and results show that satisfaction is complex and multifactorial, but that stress is certainly a key component. As such, the authors recommend specific practices for nurse leaders and healthcare administrators. All of the authors are Registered Nurses or advanced practitioners and the study is published in a peer-reviewed journal. This article is especially useful in that it frames nurse stress in terms of organizational performance, human resources, and nurse satisfaction.

Hayes, B., Douglas, C. & Bonner, A. (2014). Work environment, job satisfaction, stress and burnout among haemodialysis nurses. Journal of Nursing Management 23(5):588-598. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12184

This is a cross-sectional survey research design using several different inventories including the Brisbane Practice Environment Measure, Index of Work Satisfaction, Nursing Stress Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The researchers opted for the hemodialysis environment because it is known for its high levels of stress. Therefore, the results of this study can be extrapolated to nurse populations in other critical areas of care and high stress environments. High levels of burnout were reported, even in conjunction with high rates of job satisfaction. The authors are Registered Nurses and the article is published in a peer reviewed journal, but the study results can be applied to the clinical setting.

Praissman, S. (2008). Mindfulness-based stress reduction: A literature review and clinician’s guide. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 20(4) 212-216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7599.2008.00306.x

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a proposed tool to reduce stress among the nursing population, based on prior research detailing the efficacy of the intervention. This is a review of literature culling data from a variety of sources in EBSCO, Cinahl, Pschyline, and Medline. Researchers narrowed down the studies to those published between 2000 and 2006 and found that the empirical evidence does show statistical support for the use of MBSR for reducing overall stress and anxiety levels. The author of the article is an advanced nurse practitioner, and the article is published in a peer-reviewed journal. Although not an experimental research, it is nevertheless important to provide an overview of the literature to inform evidence-based practice. Therefore, this article is of use in research about stress in the nursing profession.