Implementation of Mindfulness with Emergency Nurse Practitioners to Decrease Burnout

Abstract

Problem & Purpose: The emergency department is challenging due to its fast-paced and highly stressful environment. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are at risk for increased stress and decreased well-being leading to burnout. This quality improvement project aim was to teach nurse practitioners the skill of mindfulness, specifically guided sitting meditation. With effective intervention, it is expected that the skill of mindfulness can directly impact stress and well-being with the goal of decreasing burnout amongst the group. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) tool was used to identify burnout. Methods: This quality improvement project involves nurse practitioners that work in an urban emergency department in the Mid-Atlantic region. NPs were invited to four mindfulness sessions over a 12 week period focused on guided sitting meditation. The MBI pretest was administered to the NPs at the start of the mindfulness session and then they had access to a self-guided sitting meditation via electronic file after each session. The NPs were encouraged to practice the guided sitting meditation for 10 minutes a day for at least 5 days a week independently and report weekly the frequency of use. Results: Brief mindfulness, specifically guided sitting meditation can impact burnout, Twenty-one NPs participated in four mindfulness sessions completing the MBI both pre and post sessions. Means scores for Emotional Exhaustion (EE) showed a positive trend going from 25.1 to 22.9 (p=0.27) Depersonalization (DP) also showing a positive trend declining from 9.9 to 9.3 (p= 0.70) However, neither was statistically significant.