 Standardized assessments showed a significant improvement in the ability to bounce back from the challenges of work in a group of nurses after four months of practicing Transcendental Meditation.
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Study shows TM benefits for nurses 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 recently published in Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. Standardized assessments showed a significant improvement after four months of practice. “For years I watched nurses struggle to care for their patients and themselves,” said lead author Jennifer Bonamer, PhD, RN-BC, Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in Sarasota, Florida. “Working with people who are suffering trauma eventually takes a toll and produces what’s come to be called compassion fatigue.” Dr. Bonamer searched the literature for self-care methods that could help nurses cope with burnout and hypothesized that the Transcendental Meditation technique 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. The researchers used the Professional Quality of Life Scale, which measures compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. 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. Again after four months, 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.”
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