RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Mantra meditation programme for emergency department staff: a qualitative study
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e020685
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020685
VO 8
IS 9
A1 Lynch, Julie
A1 Prihodova, Lucia
A1 Dunne, Pádraic J
A1 O’Leary, Caoimhe
A1 Breen, Rachel
A1 Carroll, Áine
A1 Walsh, Cathal
A1 McMahon, Geraldine
A1 White, Barry
YR 2018
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/9/e020685.abstract
AB Objectives Rates of burnout and stress in healthcare practitioners are steadily increasing. Emergency department (ED) staff are particularly susceptible to such poor outcomes. Mantra meditation (MM) may contribute to increased well-being. The primary aim of this study was to obtain indepth qualitative feedback on ED staff’s experience of a MM programme. A secondary objective was to harness staff’s perception of the ED working environment.Design Qualitative study.Setting ED in St James’ Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.Participants Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and administrative staff (n=10, eight women, mean age 35.6 years) working in the ED who attended a MM programme.Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted by a trained independent researcher. Interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed.Results Five main themes and six subthemes were identified: work pressure and perceived stress; perceived benefits of meditation (with subthemes of increased attention/awareness, improved emotion regulation and new coping mechanisms, relaxation and sleep quality); conflicting attitudes to practice; barriers to meditation practice (with subthemes of schedule, length of practice and individual differences); and facilitators to practice.Conclusion ED staff in this study described the demands of their work and voiced a need for a workplace well-being programme. Our findings suggest that MM might represent a viable tool to develop attention and awareness, improve emotion regulation and improve their capacity to cope with stress, which may impact their workplace well-being, wider health service, patient safety and quality of care. Support from the organisation is considered to be integral to embedding of a workplace well-being programme, such as the practice of meditation into their daily lives.