Assignment: Critique Guidelines

Assignment: Critique Guidelines

Nurse burnout refers to reduced nurse energy that presents as emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation and feelings of frustrations (Fortunatti & Palmeiro-Silva, 2017). The burnout syndrome occurs due to excessive and prolonged stress. For nurses working in the ICU, increased burnout occurs due to increased patient mortality and morbidity, regular encounters with traumatic and ethical issues and challenging daily work routines. An appropriate method of handling burnout syndrome is through the use of mindfulness training. The purpose of this paper is to review two quantitative studies to determine whether they answer the PICOT question by outlining the background of the studies, methods of study, results and outcome comparison.

Background of the Studies

Gholizadeh et al. (2017) offer a study explaining the effect of a mindfulness intervention on job stress among nurses in intensive care units. The authors point out that nursing is a stressful profession and the ICU is inherently stressful. To handle the stress, the authors propose the use of mindfulness practice which can be increased through meditation or training. Increased mindfulness is linked to decreased pain symptoms and increased openness, agreement and conscientiousness. Mindfulness is directly related to decreased job stress.  However, research on the effect of mindfulness interventions on the job stress level of nurses working in ICU is lacking which is the aim of the current study.

Penque (2019) also offers an article explaining how mindfulness promotes nurses’ well-being. She points out that hospitals have higher patient acuity which places more demands on nurses. Areas like critical care and ED add more stress due to the nature of work. Due to stress, most nurses develop burnout and potentially leave the profession. To avoid this, nurses have to learn how to manage clinical work stress for patient care and their health and long-term, tenure. Stress management can be achieved by developing mindfulness which is taught in mindfulness meditation programs like mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). The program teaches nurses to accept their lived experiences. MBSR decreases stress and burnout, increases relaxed states, decreases heart rate and enhances self-compassion. To support the claim, Penque (2019) executed a study that examined the effects of MBSR on job-relevant factors like mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy serenity, work satisfaction, incidental overtime, and job burnout.

How the Articles Support the Nursing Issue

The PICOT question followed is “In nurses working at the intensive care unit, will the use of mindfulness-based practices compared to breaks reduce incidences of burnout among them?” The nursing issue under research is the reduction of nurse burnout among ICU nurses using mindfulness-based practice. The two articles support the issue because they are assessing the effect of mindfulness of nurses’ jobs. For instance, Gholizadeh et al. (2017) look at how mindfulness reduces stress among ICU nurses. Stress is a major cause of nurse burnout. Penque (2019) on the other hand looks at how MBSR affects job-relevant factors like job burnout. In terms of the participants both Gholizadeh et al. (2017) and Penque (2019) have intervention groups receiving either mindfulness or MBSR respectively and control groups with no intervention. The proposed study has an intervention group receiving mindfulness-based practice and a control group receiving only breaks.

Methods of Study

Gholizadeh et al. (2017) a randomized control study design while Penque (2019) uses a quasi-experimental design. A difference between the two methods is that RCTs randomly assign participants into an intervention and a control group whereas quasi-experimental design utilizes non-randomized intervention studies (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). An advantage of RCT is that it is a gold standard when determining causality and offers high-quality evidence that informs nursing practice. On the flip side, RCTs require clinical equipoise where the selected treatments have equal support in the clinical community (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). For Quasi-experiments, they are advantageous because the directionality problem is eliminated. After all, one manipulates the independent variable before measuring the dependent variable (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). Their disadvantage is that they do not eliminate the problem of confounding variables since participants are not randomly assigned.

Results

Gholizadeh et al. (2017) found a significant difference between stress scores in the control group before and after mindfulness intervention. The experimental group also registered a significant difference before and after implementation.  The two groups also had no significant difference before the intervention but a significant difference was noted after implementation. The authors concluded that mindfulness intervention can reduce job stress among nurses who work in intensive care units. The authors recommended that health centers and hospital managers should put mindfulness intervention training on their agenda as a way of enhancing the quality of health care services and patient satisfaction.

Penque (2019) also had positive results. MBSR reduced job burnout and improved specific psychological factors like mindfulness, self-compassion, and serenity. The authors recommended the use of mindfulness-based programs among nurses to help them in developing skills to manage clinical stress and improve their health. The program was also recommended because it increases overall attention, empathy, and presence with patients and families. Additionally, it increases work satisfaction, reduced incidental overtime and decreases job burnout.

Implication on Nursing Practice

The two articles recommend that nursing leadership should advocate for mindfulness programs to help the nurses reframe difficult situations and redirect negative thinking. The use of mindfulness also can help nurses have a satisfactory outcome when faced with a negative situation.  Nurses learn that stress is optional and t can be managed. Nurse leaders should also adopt mindfulness practice since it helps in increasing focus, awareness and knowledge.

Outcome Comparison

The proposed study aims at reducing nurse burnout by providing mindfulness-based practice. The expected outcome is therefore reduced nurse burnout. The outcome compares to the two articles since Gholizadeh et al. (2017) outcome is reduced stress whereas the outcomes for Penque (2019) are reduced job burnout and increased psychological factors.

Conclusion

Nurse burnout is a common phenomenon in the intensive care unit due to prolonged stress. To handle burnout, mindfulness training is an appropriate approach. Mindfulness is linked to decreased job stress and burnout, increased relaxed states, decreased heart rate and enhanced self-compassion. The sentiments are supported by the evaluated studies that prove that mindfulness reduces job stress among ICU nurses and improves specific psychological factors like mindfulness, self-compassion, and serenity. Mindfulness should be part of the hospital agenda to enhance the quality of health care services and patients satisfaction.

References

Fortunatti, C. P., & Palmeiro-Silva, Y. K. (2017). Effort–Reward Imbalance and Burnout Among ICU Nursing Staff: A Cross-Sectional Study. Nursing Research, 66(5), 410-416.

Gholizadeh, M., Khademohosseini, S. M., Nouri, J. M., & Ahmaditahoor, M. (2017). The Effect of Mindfulness Intervention on Job Stress in Nurses of Intensive Care Units. Journal of Critical Care Nursing, 10(3).

LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2017). Nursing research-E-book: methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Penque, S. (2019). Mindfulness to promote nurses’ well-being. Nursing Management, 50(5), 38.

Write a critical appraisal that demonstrates comprehension of two qualitative research studies. Use the “Research Critique Guidelines – Part 1” document to organize your essay. Successful completion of this assignment requires that you provide rationale, include examples, and reference content within 5 years from the studies in your responses.

Use the practice problem and two qualitative, peer-reviewed research article you identified in the Topic 1 assignment to complete this assignment. References must be no more than 5 years old.

In a 1,000–1,250 word essay, summarize two qualitative studies, explain the ways in which the findings might be used in nursing practice, and address ethical considerations associated with the conduct of the study.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to Lopes Write.