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Mindful Moments in the ICU: Evaluating an Asynchronous, Online Mindfulness Program in Critical Care Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mock, Heidi T. Mindful Moments in the ICU: Evaluating an Asynchronous, Online Mindfulness Program in Critical Care Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2021. Radford University, Dissertation. Radford University Scholars' Repository.

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Abstract

Introduction: Low professional quality of life (pro-QOL) can lead to poorer patient outcomes and increased costs for healthcare systems. Mindfulness can be effective in improving pro-QOL, but alternative delivery methods, including asynchronous and web-based deliveries, remain undertested in nursing populations at this time. Methods: This pretest/posttest quasiexperimental program evaluation project utilized an app, eMLife, for ICU nurses to practice mindfulness for 15 minutes per day, six days per week for four weeks. Participants completed the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire and Professional Quality of Life Scale before and after the program to assess for changes in mindfulness and pro-QOL. Due to a lack of protocol completion by participants, a survey used to assess mindfulness knowledge, attitudes, skills, and barriers was sent to all ICU nurses at the same facility. Results: None of the 17 participants reported high levels of burnout (BO) or secondary traumatic stress (STS), and none reported low levels of compassion satisfaction (CS). Instead, 35% reported high levels of CS, 29% reported low levels of BO, and 35% reported low levels of STS. Nearly 90% (n = 103) of the 116 respondents had heard of mindfulness practice, but it seems that many know of it for stress relief. Nearly 57% (n = 64) of nurses do not practice mindfulness, and the most commonly cited barriers (n = 63) were forgetting (51%, n = 32), not knowing how (46%, n = 29), and not having enough time (36.5%, n = 23). Conclusion: Although this program was unable to effectively evaluate pro-QOL using eMLife, the survey responses suggest that offering a free mindfulness program may not be sufficient to promote pro-QOL.

Item Type: Dissertation
Uncontrolled Keywords: mindfulness, Professional Quality of Life Scale, Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire, burnout, critical care nurse, COVID-19
Subjects: R Medicine > RT Nursing
Divisions: Radford University > School of Nursing
Date Deposited: 16 Nov 2021 02:00
Last Modified: 19 Apr 2023 17:09
URI: http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/732

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