Strategy Submission
Eight Week MIndfulness Program for Nursing Students
Author:
Constance M. Green
MS, MS, RN, NPP
Title:
Associate Professor
Coauthors:
Colleen L. Prunier MS, RN CNS, Assistant Professor
Institution:
Suffolk County Community College
Email:
Competency Categories:
Patient-Centered Care, Safety, Teamwork and Collaboration
Learner Level(s):
Pre-Licensure ADN/Diploma, Pre-Licensure BSN
Learner Setting(s):
Classroom, Clinical Setting
Strategy Type:
General Strategy
Learning Objectives:
PATIENT CENTERED CARE:
Value continuous improvement of own communication and conflict resolution skills
TEAMWORK AND COLLABORATION:
Attitudes:
-Value teamwork and the relationships upon which it is based.
-Value different styles of communication used by patients, families and health care providers
SAFETY:
-Describe factors that create a culture of safety.
-Demonstrate effective use of strategies to reduce risk of harm to self or others.
Attitudes:
-Appreciate the cognitive and physical limits of human performance.
-Value own role in preventing errors
Strategy Overview:
This is an eight session Mindfulness Program for nursing students. It can be used in clinical setting or small classroom setting.
The purpose was to introduce the practice of mindfulness to nursing students in order to prepare them to deliver quality, effective, and safe nursing care with compassion in a non-judgmental manner and to promote professionalism, teamwork, self-awareness, and critical thinking.
The program includes weekly topic readings and discussions as well as brief sitting meditation practice. The weekly topics included: Orientation; Being Fully Present; Responding Mindfully Without Judgment; Teamwork, Compassion; Communication; Balanced Life; and Closure.
We have used this program in our Mental Health course during clinical. It takes approximately 30 minutes each week. Permission was obtained from the author to play the 10 minute CD Sitting Meditation Guided Mindfulness Meditation CD (Series 2) by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Permission would be the responsibility of anyone interested.
Submitted Materials:
Additional Materials:
Evaluation Description:
1) This activity can be evaluated on the basis of the students' ability to thoughtfully discuss the weekly questions at the end of each weekly session, and the students' ability to identify benefits of mindfulness in nursing practice
2) This activity can also be evaluated by use of pre and post measurement of student’s level of mindfulness. We have used Kirk Brown’s “Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS).”