Clinical Nurse Well-being Improved Through Transcendental Meditation: A Multimethod Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) practice on the multidimensional well-being of nurse clinicians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. BACKGROUND The health of clinical nurses has substantial impact on both the availability of a nursing workforce and the quality and safety of patient care. TM improved health and coping strategies across many populations. METHODS Clinical nurses were recruited from 3 Magnet®-designated hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-being outcomes included flourishing, burnout, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Participants were randomized following completion of baseline surveys into immediate (intervention) or delayed (control) TM instruction. Surveys were repeated at 1 and 3 months following baseline survey or TM instruction. Repeated-measures analysis of variance compared differences in groups over time. RESULTS Across the 3 sites, there were 104 clinical nurse participants. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant medium to large effects in improvement over time in well-being measures for the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS TM improved multidimensional well-being of clinical nurses by reducing posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and burnout and improving flourishing. TM is easy to practice anywhere. The benefits are immediate and cumulative. Organizations and individual nurses can use TM to support clinical nurses in the difficult and meaningful work of patient care, especially in challenging times. Future studies may consider the feasibility of integrating TM into clinical shifts and evaluating its impact on patient and organizational outcomes.