An On-the-Job Mindfulness-based Intervention For Pediatric ICU Nurses: A Pilot

•We found this mindfulness intervention feasible for our sample of critical care nurses.•Stress significantly decreased from baseline to follow-up across all nurses.•Findings demonstrate that irrespective of meditation experience and how many minutes meditated, stress levels decreased.•Brief interventions that support on-the-job self-care and stress-reduction may prove useful in critical care hospital settings.

The feasibility of a 5-minute mindfulness meditation for PICU nurses before each work-shift to investigate change in nursing stress, burnout, self-compassion, mindfulness, and job satisfaction was explored. Thirty-eight nurses completed measures (Nursing Stress Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale and Self-Compassion Scale) at baseline, post-intervention and 1 month after. The intervention was found to be feasible for nurses on the PICU. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant decreases in stress from baseline to post intervention and maintained 1 month following the intervention. Findings may inform future interventions that support on-the-job self-care and stress-reduction within a critical care setting.