Mindful self-compassion for nurses: a systematic review
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Mindful self-compassion for nurses: a systematic review

Duke Biber Assistant professor, Sport Management, Wellness and Physical Education, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, US

Why you should read this article:
  • To understand the concept of mindful self-compassion

  • To recognise the importance of mindful self-compassion in relation to reducing stress

  • To consider using mindful self-compassion activities to enhance your own well-being

This article details a systematic review that aimed to synthesise and analyse the published research on the effects of mindful self-compassion interventions on stress in nurses. Five studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria and were analysed in terms of sample characteristics, intervention, measurement of self-compassion, additional psychosocial outcome measures, intervention duration and adherence, intervention outcomes and effect size and follow-up.

The review found that mindful self-compassion interventions had medium-to-large effect sizes for self-compassion, traumatic stress, burnout, stress and compassion satisfaction. There was also high intervention adherence (mean=86%) in the included studies. Since these interventions can improve self-compassion and compassion in nurses, they have the potential to enhance the quality of compassionate care provided by nurses who undergo training in mindful self-compassion.

Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2021.e2028

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

dbiber@westga.edu

Conflict of interest

None declared

Biber D (2021) Mindful self-compassion for nurses: a systematic review. Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2021.e2028

Published online: 14 December 2021

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