Mindfulness-based stress reduction training yields improvements in well-being and rates of perceived nursing errors among hospital nurses

Introduction: This pilot study aims to further document mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)'s effect on well-being while exploring its impact on errors among hospital nurses.

Background: The concept of mindfulness has been found to be highly relevant to holistic nursing practices but remains understudied and underused. Preliminary evidence suggests that MBSR can reduce stress among nurses. As stress and mental processes such as inattention are potential sources of error, MBSR may also help to improve patient safety. Reducing errors is of significant relevance in healthcare settings.

Design: A randomized controlled trial with a matched pair design was conducted.

Methods: Seventy Registered Nurses and licensed practical nurses were randomized to MBSR (N = 37) or a waitlist control condition (N = 33).

Results: Intention-to-treat ANCOVAs revealed that MBSR produced significant improvements in distress. High levels of treatment satisfaction were reported by a majority of participants. Of the nurses who reported that errors had been a problem for them (28.6%), a perceived improvement was noticed by over a third (37.5%) at 3 months post-treatment.

Conclusion: These initial findings suggest that the benefits of MBSR may extend to nursing errors.