Effectiveness of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction in Pediatric Nurses.

Background: Unlike other medical practitioners, nurses working in pediatric intensive care units face uniquely challenging workplace conditions because they care for preterm newborns and critically ill patients. These workplace challenges led to increased compassion fatigue (i.e., burnout and secondary traumatic stress) and decreased compassion satisfaction. Compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction strongly influence the quality of care and patient outcomes, and these need to be addressed through effective interventions such as mindfulness-based interventions.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the impact of a brief mindfulness-based intervention on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among pediatric intensive care nurses.

Methods: A quasi experimental study with a pretest posttest design was used to recruit 204 nurses: 102 in the intervention group and 102 in the control group with randomization by hospital (n = 4). The brief mindfulness-based intervention was delivered over 6 weeks. Data were collected using a demographics questionnaire and the Professional Quality of Life Scale, Version 5.

Results: The intervention group's mean scores of burnout and secondary traumatic stress were significantly lower postinterventions compared with the control group. Similarly, the mean compassion satisfaction score for the intervention group indicated a significant improvement post-intervention compared with the control group. Additional evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention was the disappearance of low compassion satisfaction, high burnout, and high secondary traumatic stress categorizations postintervention in the intervention group, contrary to the control group.

Conclusions: Implementing brief mindfulness-based interventions can improve pediatric intensive care nurses' well-being by reducing burnout and secondary traumatic stress while enhancing compassion satisfaction. By using the study's findings, nurse managers can make these practices essential for high-quality care and effective workforce management. Background: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: ACTRN12622000389707.