The Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Workplace Well-Being and Empathy Levels Among Nurses Working in Psychiatric Wards in Iran: A Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Workplace stressors can negatively impact the well-being and nurse-patient empathy among nurses working in psychiatric wards. This controlled trial investigated the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on workplace well-being and empathy levels among these nurses. In this study, 80 clinical nurses from the psychiatric wards of Ibn-e-Sina psychiatric hospital, affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, completed a demographics form, the Eudaimonic Workplace Well-being Scale, and the Clinical Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Subsequently, participants were allocated to either the MBSR group (n = 40) or the control group (n = 40). The MBSR group received an eight-week program consisting of weekly two-hour sessions based on the MBSR principles developed by Kabat-Zinn. The participants in both the MBSR and control groups completed the data collection tools immediately after the intervention and one month later. The mean scores of workplace well-being and its intrapersonal dimension increased significantly more in the MBSR group than in the control group over time. Similarly, empathy and its perspective-taking subscale improved significantly more in the MBSR group than in the control group over time. The MBSR intervention can be a beneficial tool to improve workplace well-being and nurse-patient empathy levels among nurses working in psychiatric wards.