Examining the Use of Mindfulness Meditation to Enhance Attention Regulation Efficiency in Nursing Students

The development of mindfully-attentive nursing graduates is a heightened charge for pre-licensure nurse educators given an increasingly complex healthcare workplace in which nurse's must detect patient risk among multiple stimuli, distractions, and interruption (Beyea, 2007; Cornell et al., 2010; Ebright, et al., 2006). Novice nurses frequently report symptoms of cognitive overload associated with error and other negative patient outcomes (Ebright, Urden, Patterson, & Chalko, 2004; McGillis Hall et al., 2010; Unver, Tastan, & Akbayrak, 2012) yet standard pre-licensure nursing curricula does not specifically prepare students for the needed attention regulation skills of safe nursing practice. Recent and accumulating neuroscientific research suggests a strong correlation between regular practice of mindfulness meditation (MM) (Eberth & Sedlmeier, 2012) and enhanced attentional capacity. This randomized controlled trial therefore investigated the effect of MM as compared to standard nursing education on the efficiency of attentional processes (alerting, orienting, and executive function) in pre-licensure registered nursing students (N=52) as well as on accuracy in performance of a nursing skill. It was framed by Posner and Gilbert's (2002) neuropsychological Model of Attention. Main outcome data were collected using the Attention Network Test (ANT) (Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz & Posner, 2002), and an investigator-developed Medication Administration Task (MAT). Examination of possible confounding influences of perceived stress using the Perceived Stress Scale - 10 (PSS-10) (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) and mindfulness using the Five -Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) (Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, & Toney, 2006) were also included. Nursing students who participated in online training and four weeks of daily MM practice demonstrated improvement to executive attention efficiency as compared to a non-meditating control group F (1, 49) =4.26, p = .044, although interpretation was restricted by accompanied low power .53. MAT results on nursing skill accuracy were non-significant, but group differences on posttests of PSS-10 and FFMQ were significant F (2, 47) = 7.16, p = .002, power .92. After four weeks of meditation, participants in the MM group scored higher in mindfulness characteristics and lower in perceived stress than control group participants who did not meditate.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Burger, Kathleen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joan Such Lockhart
• Alison Colbert
• Ara Schmitt

• Health and environmental sciences
• Education
• Attention
• Meditation
• Mindfulness
• Nursing student
• Safety
• Stress

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/364

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1377