Workplace Mindfulness-Based Interventions Help Nurses Cut Stress By 40 Percent

Researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that workplace mindfulness-based intervention helped to reduce the stress of nurses. As medical professionals work in extremely nerve-wracking environments, relaxation techniques can be very helpful in staying grounded and getting work both effectively and efficiently. 

For the study, 32 nurses who worked in a surgical intensive care unit at the large academic medical center were randomized in a stress-reduction intervention or control group.

During the eight-week intervention, participants were instructed on mindfulness, gentle stretching, yoga, music and meditation in the workplace. Psychological and biological markers of stress were also measured one week before and after the intervention to see if coping strategies could help reduce stress and burnout among participants.

Researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that a workplace mindfulness-based intervention reduced stress levels of employees exposed to a highly stressful occupational environment by 40 percent.

The control group showed no changes. However, researchers found that levels of salivary [alpha]-amylase, an index of sympathetic activation of the nervous system, otherwise known as our fight or flight response, significantly decreased from the first to second assessments in the intervention group.

"Our study shows that this type of mindfulness-based intervention in the workplace could decrease stress levels and the risk of burnout," study author Maryanna Klatt, said in a news release. "What's stressful about the work environment is never going to change. But what we were interested in changing was the nursing personnel's reaction to those stresses. We measured salivary alpha amylase, which is a biomarker of the sympathetic nervous system activation, and that was reduced by 40 percent in the intervention group."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.