Mindfulness Training: Building a Supportive Environment

Mindfulness training methods have been employed effectively and productively in healthcare organizations to reduce stress, anxiety, emotional fatigue, depersonalization, depression, and burnout. These strategies have been beneficial for stimulating personal triumphs, self confidence, empathy, concentration, and frame of mind. Utilizing these approaches, institutions have creatively diminished employee health costs, augmented personal output, impacted job contentment, and decreased negative physiologic markers (Francis, n.d.). Individuals and organizations should undertake to tackle the uneasiness and challenges experienced by employees to ensure that the workplace is a health work environment.

A West Texas acute care agency recognized a mounting concern with staff members stressed with numerous conflicting priorities, processing recurrent challenges and uncertainty in a complicated environment. As a consequence of these hardships, a choice was made to cultivate a focused mindfulness training program which could be provided to a broad diversity of agency employees to support them in developing a deliberate and suitable process in any setting they were encountering (Schaufenbuel, 2014). The program entailed various distinctive and unique components to permit the growth of a program that was user-friendly, timely, and individualized.

A pilot study related to the Mindfulness Training project received institutional review board approval to conduct the project. A cohort was begun in early fall, 2016. The program utilized a six week program. Within this period, participants were provided a selection of reading, videos, and activities to complete to gain comfort and expertise with different strategies to address stress, anxiety, fatigue, depression, and burnout. For each week, the participants were compelled to participate in some form of mindfulness activity on a daily bases for a minimum of 5 minutes. Each week, the participants were provided an opportunity to debrief in regard to their journey toward mindfulness competency. During these debriefing sessions, new skills and techniques were discussed and demonstrated along with opportunities to discuss the integration of these skills and techniques into the regular work environment. By providing resources, strategies, and debriefing, the health care environment assumed a more positive, supportive atmosphere.

This session will provide an overview of the process used to develop the Mindfulness Program. Participants will be able to discuss strategies that worked with in this setting along with barriers and challenges encountered which allowed for the evolution of the program. This session will offer ideas for the participants to engage in their own settings with like-minded individuals. Recommendations for assessing the environment will be provided. The presenters will providing suggestions to be used to develop a program in other settings.