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Are Your Students Stressed? Mindfulness Meditation For 

Stress Management

Angela Alexander, BSN, RN

Odunola Gbenro Ajibade, MSN, RN 

Katelyn Zag, BSN, RNCapital University, Columbus, OH

Objective

Upon completion of this presentation, participants will:

Consider the use of mindfulness meditation with their students to enhance their student’s management of stress.  

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Focuses awareness on the body, breathing, sensations, or whatever arises in the moment

Reduces reactions to stress promoting a                relaxed state, less anxiety, and positive thoughts

Cultivates self‐awareness, non‐judgement, and compassion towards themselves and others      

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Mindfulness Meditation and Evidence‐based Practice

Capital University is endorsed by the American Holistic Nursing Association (AHNA)

Mindfulness meditation has been threaded throughout the nursing curriculum

Students are more stressed today than ever before. They are experiencing new emotional needs from themselves and their patients 

Most nursing students do not know how to manage their stress 

Let’s Do Mindfulness Meditation

breatherelax

meditate

How Did You Feel?

Before mindfulness meditation…..• Stressed• Anxious• Tense• Absent minded• Lacking energy

After mindfulness meditation…..• Relaxed• Calm• Ready to tackle tasks• Thinking clearer• Euphoric

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Known Health Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation‐According to the AHNA

Restores balanced function to the digestive system

Lowers blood pressure/slows down cardio‐vascular system 

(Chen, Yang, Wang, & Zhang, 2013)

Relationship satisfaction

Relieves insomnia/anxiety

Releases fears

Helps with depression

.

Why Do Mindfulness Meditation? 

Reduces student nurse’s stress    (Billingsley, Collins, Miller, 2007)

Reduces student’s anxiety (Billingsley, Collins, Miller, 

2007)

Improves tests scores                         (Dahlqvist,Söderberg, & Norberg, 2008)

Improves student’s      cognition/focus  (Spadaro& Hunker, 2016)

Boosts student’s immune system    (Leggett, 2010) 

Helps to foster empathy and compassion  (Beddoe &  Murphy,2004)

Collecting the Evidence

PICO Question

In nursing students, does mindfulness meditation decrease stress?

Key words: nursing students, stress, and mindfulness meditation

189 articles reviewed that discussed or studied stress management using mindfulness meditation in nursing students

20 articles were selected based on relevance to the topic of this evidence‐based practice review

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Results

Overall, the studies on mindfulness meditation showed potential in reducing stress and anxiety in nursing students (O’Brien, 2014)

Mindfulness meditation presented to be extremely affective in the clinical setting (Moscaritolo, 2009)

Brief mindfulness meditation was beneficial for Chinese, Thai, and American nursing students in reducing anxiety symptoms and lowering systolic blood pressure (Bamber & Schneider, 

2016; Beddoe & Murphy, 2004; Chen, Yang, Wang, & Zhang, 2013; Huibing, Chow, & Poon, 2013; Yang, Su, & Huang, 2009; Leggett, 2010; Song & Lindquist, 2015; Spadaro & Hunker, 2016; Rossiter, Kirby, Dluzewska, & Harmon, 2015)

Common Methods of Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR)‐Meditation technique that promotes relaxation through nonjudgmental awareness of moment‐to‐moment sensations, experiences, and reactions  

Movement Meditation‐ Circulation of energy through movement of the body or focusing your energy on sensing the process of movement itself 

Mindful Breathing‐ Uses the breath as an object of concentration 

Examples of Mindfulness Meditation With Nursing Students

MBSR

Independent Study

Online

Movement Meditation

Workshopsbetween classes

Mindful Breathing

Clinical

Class

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A Simple Example…

Set aside a specific place for mediation. The atmosphere you are in will help still the mind. For nursing students, this could be the classroom or breakroom on the clinical site 

Set a timer for five or ten minutes (eg. Use a Smartphone)

Sit straight with your spine erect; posture is important 

Close your eyes

Notice and then concentrate on your breathing as best you can ‐ Inhale slowly and exhale slowly

Focus on your breathing ‐ Its all about maintaining your breath 

Repeat until the timer goes off

On‐Line Resources for Mindfulness Meditation

BooksGuided Mindfulness Meditation by Jon Kabat‐Zinn (2005)

5‐Minute Mindfulness: Simple daily shortcuts to transform your life by David Dillard‐Wright (2011)

Little book of mindfulness: 10 minutes a day to less stress, more peace by DrPatrizia Collard

On‐Line Resources for Mindfulness Meditation

Websites

https://www.calm.com

https://www.mindfulnesscds.com

http://www.mindful.org

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On‐Line Resources for Mindfulness Meditation

Apps

Headspace

Insight Timer

Spire

Calm

Summary

Nursing students are faced with new and ever changing stress loads which they may not know how to cope with

Mindfulness meditation is an effective and simple way for nurse educator to help students manage stress

There are many different means in which an educator can implement mindfulness meditation into their curriculum that works best with their students and program 

REFERENCES

• Bamber, M. D., & Kraenzle Schneider, J. (2016). Review: Mindfulness-based meditation to decrease stress and anxiety in college students: A narrative synthesis of the research. Educational Research Review, 18, 1-32. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.004

• Beaumont, E., & Martin, C. J. H. (2016). Heightening levels of compassion towards self and others through use of compassionate mind training. British Journal of Midwifery, 24(11), 777-786.

• Beddoe, A. E., & Murphy, S. O. (2004). Does mindfulness decrease stress and foster empathy among nursing students? Journal of Nursing Education, 43(7), 305-312. Retrieved from http://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=106774102&site=ehost-live

• Billingsley, S. K., Collins, A. M., & Miller, M. (2007). Student issues. healthy student, healthy nurse: A stress management workshop. Nurse Educator, 32(2), 49-51. Retrieved from http://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=106294915&site=ehost-live

• Chen, Y., Yang, X., Wang, L., & Zhang, X. (2013). A randomized controlled trial of the effects of brief mindfulness meditation on anxiety symptoms and systolic blood pressure in chinese nursing students.Nurse Education Today, 33(10), 1166-1172. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2012.11.014

• Clark, C. M., Nguyen, D. T., & Barbosa-Leiker, C. (2014). Student perceptions of stress, coping, relationships, and academic civility: A longitudinal study. Nurse Educator, 39(4), 170-174. doi:10.1097/NME.0000000000000049

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REFERENCES

• Cohen, J. A., Laskowski, C., & Rambur, B. A. (2008). The experience of movement meditation: A dance of rhythmic paradox and time. International Journal for Human Caring, 12(3), 65-73.Retrievedfrom http://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=105566790&site=ehost-live

• Dahlqvist, V., Söderberg, A., & Norberg, A. (2008). Dealing with stress: Patterns of self-comfort among healthcare students. Nurse Education Today, 28(4), 476-484. Retrieved from http://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=105769789&site=ehost-live

• Galbraith, N. D., & Brown, K. E. (2011). Assessing intervention effectiveness for reducing stress in student nurses: Quantitative systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67(4), 709-721. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05549.x

• Huibing LIM, M., CHOW, Y. L., & Poon, E. (2013). Evaluation of meditation programmes used by nurses to reduce stress: A literature review. Singapore Nursing Journal, 40(3), 11-20.

• Retrievedhttp://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=104196820&site=ehost-live

• Ke-Ping Yang, Whei-Ming Su, & Chen-Kuan Huang. (2009). The effect of meditation on physical and mental health in junior college students: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Nursing Research (Taiwan Nurses Association), 17(4), 261-269. Retrieved from http://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=47787081&site=eds-live

REFERENCES• Klainin-Yobas, P., Keawkerd, O., Pumpuang, W., Thunyadee, C., Thanoi, W., & He, H. (2014). The mediating effects of

coping on the stress and health relationships among nursing students: A structural equation modelling approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(6), 1287-1298. doi:10.1111/jan.12283

• Leggett, D. K. (2010). Effectiveness of a brief stress reduction intervention for nursing students in reducing physiological stress indicators and improving well-being and mental health.(109854634).Retrievedhttp://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=109854634&site=ehost-live

• Moscaritolo, L. M. (2009). Interventional strategies to decrease nursing student anxiety in the clinical learning environment. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(1), 17-23. doi:10.3928/01484834-20090101-08

• O'Brien, D. A. (2014). Using mindfulness meditation intermixed with humor to reduce anxiety among nursing students during clinical practice. (2014-99120-145). Retrieved from http://capital.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2014-99120-145&site=eds-live

• Pines, E. W., Rauschhuber, M. L., Norgan, G. H., Cook, J. D., Canchola, L., Richardson, C., & Jones, M. E. (2012). Stress resiliency, psychological empowerment and conflict management styles among baccalaureate nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(7), 1482-1493. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05875.x

• Song, Y., & Lindquist, R. (2015). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on depression, anxiety, stress and mindfulness in korean nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 35(1), 86-90. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2014.06.010

• Spadaro, K. C., & Hunker, D. F. (2016). Exploring the effects of an online asynchronous mindfulness meditation intervention with nursing students on stress, mood, and cognition: A descriptive study. Nurse Education Today, 39, 163-169. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2016.02.006

• van, d. R., Rossiter, R., Kirby, D., Dluzewska, T., & Harmon, C. (2015). Piloting a stress management and mindfulness program for undergraduate nursing students: Student feedback and lessons learned. Nurse Education Today, 35(1), 44-49. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2014.05.003

• Yamashita, K., Saito, M., & Takao, T. (2012). Stress and coping styles in japanese nursing students. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 18(5), 489-496. doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2012.02056.x

QUESTIONS