Transcendental Meditation Reduces Compassion Fatigue and Improves Resilience for Nurses

Transcendental Meditation for Women    Translate This Article
14 March 2019

Research suggests that self-care for nurses is important for professional development.

The Transcendental Meditation^® technique helped to reduce ''compassion fatigue'' and burnout in a group of 27 nurses while also improving resilience according to a study published February 27 in Journal for Nurses in Professional Development.

''For years I watched nurses struggle to care for their patients and themselves,'' said lead author Jennifer Bonamer, PhD, RN-BC, AHN-BC, Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, Sarasota, Florida. ''Working with people who are suffering trauma eventually takes a toll and produces what's come to be called 'compassion fatigue.' ''



Jennifer Bonamer
Credit: Sarasota Memorial
Health Care System

Study included mostly Registered Nurses

Dr. Bonamer searched the literature for self-care methods that could help nurses cope with burnout and hypothesized that Transcendental Meditation would help relieve compassion fatigue in nurses and improve their ability to bounce back from the challenges of work.

Most of the 27 nurses in the study were Registered Nurses working directly with patients. They had been working as nurses 15.7 mean years, and in their current practice area for an average of 6.5 years.

Standardized assessments quantify benefits

The researchers used the Professional Quality of Life Scale, which includes a 30-item survey that measures compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue on a 5-point scale. After four months of practicing Transcendental Meditation, the nurses experienced a 9.2% increase in compassion satisfaction and 18% reduction in burnout.

Resilience was measured via the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, a 25-item survey with statements that reflect resilient perspectives. It also uses a 5-point scale. Again, after four months of Transcendental Meditation, the nurses experienced a 16.9% increase in resilience.

''These surveys are widely used with demonstrated validity and reliability,'' Dr. Bonamer said. ''They demonstrated quantitatively what the nurses reported: they felt better and enjoyed their work more.''

Increasing importance of self-care techniques in nursing

There is an increasing trend toward appreciating the necessity of helping nurses in their careers by taking active steps to use self-care techniques to build resilience.

''We need to invest in our nursing staff and ensure that they have rewarding careers while also providing the best possible care for their patients,'' Dr. Bonamer said. ''The Transcendental Meditation technique is one step that we could take. A variety of studies have shown its effectiveness in reducing stress and promoting health and well-being.''



RNs practice TM for self-care at Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Credit: Transcendental Meditation for Women

The nurses learned Transcendental Meditation from two certified teachers over a four-day period. They then practiced it for 20 minutes twice a day, though their demanding schedules sometimes made it challenging to fit it in. The technique is typically practiced once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. In this video, Nourishing the Caregiver from Within, nurses describe the benefits they are receiving from their TM Program.

Previous qualitative study also found a benefit

The present study is the second of two that have used the Transcendental Meditation technique as a modality to improve the well-being of nurses. A study published in 2018 in International Journal for Human Caring reported the experience of RNs in graduate school who practiced Transcendental Meditation for four months. The qualitative study entailed the students keeping a journal and then the researchers used Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method to examine their journals.

The results showed that graduate students were more present and balanced, and experienced enhanced job performance. They also enjoyed greater feelings of bliss, peace, and integrity.

∙ ∙ ∙
Self-Care Strategies for Professional Development: Transcendental Meditation^® Reduces Compassion Fatigue and Improves Resilience for Nurses, Jennifer (Rheingans) Bonamer, PhD; Catherine Aquino-Russell, PhD. DOI: 10.1097/NND.0000000000000522
(Mar/Apr 2019, Vol 35, Issue 2)

For more information visit Transcendental Meditation for Nurses

Media Contact
Amy Ruff
educationdirector@tm-women.org

@https://twitter.com/tmwomen
http://www.tm-women.org  

Copyright © 2019 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)



Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google) Select a language English to Afrikaans English to Albanian English to Arabic English to Belarusian English to Bulgarian English to Catalan English to Chinese (Simplified) English to Chinese (Traditional) English to Croatian English to Czech English to Danish English to Dutch English to Estonian English to Filipino English to Finnish English to French English to Galician English to German English to Greek English to Hebrew English to Hindi English to Hungarian English to Icelandic English to Indonesian English to Irish English to Italian English to Japanese English to Korean English to Latvian English to Lithuanian English to Macedonian English to Malay English to Maltese English to Norwegian English to Persian English to Polish English to Portuguese English to Romanian English to Russian English to Serbian English to Slovak English to Slovenian English to Spanish English to Swahili English to Swedish English to Thai English to Turkish English to Ukrainian English to Vietnamese English to Welsh English to Yiddish

(Altavista babelfish) Select a languageEnglish to Chinese-simpEnglish to Chinese-tradEnglish to DutchEnglish to PortugueseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to GermanEnglish to GreekEnglish to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to KoreanEnglish to RussianEnglish to Spanish