Living Mindfully with Aruna Manathunge

Mindfulness Enters the Hospital - Part 1:

Mindfulness for Doctors and Nurses

Stress and burnout among healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses is high and climbing, both in Sri Lanka and in the world. A report published in 2015 by Medscape showed that nearly half (46%) of the doctors surveyed reported burnout. That was a clear increase over the 2013 survey done by Medscape. In 2013 burnout among the doctors was 39.8%. Statistics were similarly high with regards to nurses as well.

A research article published in ‘JAMAArch Intern Med.’ further elaborated that healthcare workers demonstrated classical signs of brownout and burnout: loss of enthusiasm for work (or emotional exhaustion), feelings of cynicism (or depersonalisation) and reduced professional efficiency. Our readers may have encountered such healthcare workers both at private and government hospitals in Sri Lanka.

The toll of continued stress and burnout experienced by the healthcare workers go well beyond the ill effects on their physical and mental health. These effects could erode their ability to place the needs and wellbeing of their patients at the forefront. With burnout comes the increased risk of medical error and a decrease in the quality of patient care. According to a research article published in ‘Annals of Family Medicine’, as much as 60% of doctors can experience burnout during their careers.

Causes of burnout among healthcare workers

Leading factors causing burnout are long working hours, having to address crisis situations day in and day out, constant exposure to human suffering over long durations, the tendency to work at multiple locations to increase the income, increased bureaucratic tasks and documentation work and the ever increasing numbers of patients.

None of this is new or news to the healthcare workers. What may be new to them is what is newly being done to address this pervasive problem.

Time for the Mind and Mindfulness

Just as the foundation of medicine is built on the work and thought of the ancient Greeks, a way to manage stress and burnout is emerging that has even an older influence – the way of meditation, or using a more contemporary term, Mindfulness or Mindfulness Meditation.

Global evidence is mounting on the effectiveness of Mindfulness to reduce or counter the effects of prolonged stress and burnout among healthcare workers. Data from a 2009 study show that primary care physicians who participated in a continuing medical education (CME) course that included Mindfulness had both short and long term improvements in wellbeing and attitudes, such as empathy associated with patient-centred care.

A more recent study in 2013 shows that participation in an 8-week training course on Mindfulness for primary care physicians led to reductions in depression, anxiety, stress and indicators of burnout. A follow-up study of 2015 showed feasibility and success in cultivating Mindfulness training within the healthcare system.

Programs

Presently, a number of CME programs that train doctors in Mindfulness meditation are being offered in the USA. These include ‘Taking Care of our Own’ by the University Of North Carolina School Of Medicine, ‘Physician Well-Being Program’ by the world famous Mayo Clinic and ‘Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Program’ by the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Some hospitals in both USA and UK have started to offer Mindfulness training programs to their staff. They have found these programs help to improve productivity and quality of hospital staff and thereby the overall value of the hospitals. Also the overall commitment and empathy among the staff improved as a result of the Mindfulness programs.

A notable improvement was the reduction of turnover among the nurses and other healthcare staff due to their greater work satisfaction and teamwork. The healthcare workers also learned new skills, quickly and more willingly, than before.

Mindfulness training for healthcare staff is likely to be increasingly used by more hospitals in the future to improve the overall quality of their services.

Aruna Manathunge has practiced Mindfulness for over 42 years. During the past 7 years he has closely followed the development of Mind Science in the Western world. He has had a long career as the Country Head of Sri Lanka and the Head of the Indian Sub-Continent of an American Pharmaceutical Multinational company. Presently Aruna conducts Coaching in Mindfulness to Schools and Companies. Aruna can be contacted at manathungearuna@gmail.com