Research Stories

by Diane Boudreau

Imagine that you have to go to the hospital for a risky surgery. As you check in, you see two nurses talking by the front desk. One of them looks exhausted and is complaining about feeling overwhelmed. The other looks relaxed, alert and energetic. Which nurse do you hope to have caring for you as you prepare for and recover from surgery?

Most–if not all–people would opt for the relaxed, energetic nurse. This caregiver is less likely to make mistakes and more likely to provide quality care. But nursing can be a high-stress job.

Teri Pipe is looking for ways to help nurses become more resilient to stress. Pipe is the director of nursing research at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.

"Arizona is 45th in the country in terms of nurses per capita. The nursing shortage is a very real problem for us. The average age for nurses in Arizona is 45. We need to be more resilient, and for longer," says Pipe.

Nurses face a variety of stressors throughout the workday. Constant interruptions are the norm. Most nurses carry a cell phone and a pager, use E-mail, engage in person-to-person communication, and are responsible for a nursing plan on top of a medical care plan.

Nursing involves physical demands, too. Nurses have to move and bathe patients and change bedding. Many nurses work 12-hour shifts. And of course, there is the basic stress of being responsible for other people's health.

"It's really important to remember that the work of a nurse is related to the life of a patient," says Pipe. In other words, healthier nurses mean healthier patients.

Pipe wondered if nurses could benefit from a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. To find out, she sought help from Kathleen Matt, an ASU endocrinologist who studies stress, its causes, and its effects.

"I've known Kathy for a long time. She has always been open and collaborative in terms of her work," says Pipe, adding, "She's like the Energizer bunny. I never see her looking tired!"

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a tool for managing stress. Developed in the 1970s by Jon Kabat-Zinn, MBSR incorporates techniques like meditation, yoga, breath awareness and mindfulness.

"It's not new, but the applications of it are becoming much more creative. There is a huge mountain of studies coming out about the effectiveness of MBSR," says Pipe. "What's different about our study is that we focused on nursing leaders, and we used a four-week training program instead of the usual eight weeks due to the nurses' busy schedules."

The randomized, controlled study showed that nurses who practiced MBSR reported lower anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms than those who didn't.

Pipe says the best thing about MBSR is that it poses little risk of negative side effects.

"If the effects were in a pill, people would want to know where to buy the pill. But this involves behavioral changes–it's a different level of commitment. The irony of stress management is that when we do get stressed we don't have time for these techniques."

This research was funded by the Mayo Clinic. Read more about stress research collaborations at ASU in "Stress...out!"