Healthcare professionals face numerous challenges in their daily work with core areas of treatment and care, but also in relation to organizational changes, changes in work assignments, and education. These challenges entail a need for mental robustness to prevent strain symptoms and stress. The aim of this study was to examine if the mental health and well-being of healthcare professionals can be improved via the teaching of and training in positive psychology and mindfulness. An intervention study was conducted with a four-day course with training in applied and theoretical aspects of positive psychology and mindfulness. The 23 participants were nurses and secretaries employed at a regional hospital in Denmark. The effects of the intervention were assessed by semi-structured interviews and quantitative measurements of well-being, positivity, and self-compassion. The participants described that they had learned techniques to face problems and challenges in a new way. The main themes from the qualitative analysis were increased positivity and strengths/skills, better mental gearshift, serenity, and increased self-compassion. Quantitative results showed an increase in the positivity-test, self-compassion test, and WHO-5 scale during the training period and a fade in the results 3-months post-intervention. Further research is necessary to confirm a significant increase in robustness and reduction in strain symptoms. Applying positive psychology and mindfulness may increase the positivity and mental robustness among healthcare professionals, and this study has described a model to teach knowledge and train practice skills from theories related to positive psychology and mindfulness.
Ahrendt, D., Anderson, R., Dubois, H., Jungblut, J. -M., Leončikas, T., Pöntinen, L., & Sando, E. (2017). European Quality of Life Survey 2016: Quality of Life, Quality of Public Services, and Quality of Society. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef1733en.pdf
Aiken, L., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J., & Silber, J. H. (2002). Hospital Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job Dissatisfaction. Journal of American Medical Association, 288, 1987-1993. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.16.1987
Bandura, A. (2014). A Social Cognitive Perspective on Positive Psychology. International Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 7-20. https://doi.org/10.1174/021347411794078444
Barton, J., & Pretty, J. (2010). What Is the Best Dose of Nature and Green Exercise for Improving Mental Health? A Multi-Study Analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 11, 3947-3955. https://doi.org/10.1021/es903183r
Bech, P., Olsen, L. R., Kjoller, M., & Rasmussen, N. K. (2003). Measuring Well-Being Rather than the Absence of Distress Symptoms: A Comparison of the SF-36 Mental Health Subscale and the WHO-Five Well-Being Scale. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 12, 85-91. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.145
Berto, R. (2014). The Role of Nature in Coping with Psycho-Physiological Stress: A Literature Review on Restorativeness. Behavioral Science, 4, 394-409. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs4040394
Boehm, J. K., Lyubomirsky, S., & Sheldon, K. M. (2011). A Longitudinal Experimental Study Comparing the Effectiveness of Happiness-Enhancing Strategies in Anglo Americans and Asian Americans. Cognition & Emotion, 25, 1263-1272. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2010.541227
Bridgeman, P. J., Bridgeman, M. B., & Barone, J. (2018). Burnout Syndrome among Healthcare Professionals. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 75, 147-152. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp170460
Cappellen, P. V., Catalino, L. I., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2019). A New Micro-Intervention to Increase the Enjoyment and Continued Practice of Meditation. Emotion, 20, 1332-1343. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/emo0000684
Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15, 593-600. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2008.0495
Cocker, F., & Joss, N. (2016). Compassion Fatigue among Healthcare, Emergency and Community Service Workers: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13, Article No. 618. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13060618
Donaldson, S. I., Lee, J. Y., & Donaldson, S. I. (2019). Evaluating Positive Psychology interventions at Work: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 4, 113-134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-019-00021-8
Drury, V., Craigie, M., Francis, K., Aoun, S., & Hegney, D. G. (2014). Compassion Satisfaction, Compassion Fatigue, Anxiety, Depression and Stress in Registered Nurses in Australia: Phase 2 Results. Journal of Nursing Management, 22, 519-531. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12168
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology: The Broard and Build Theory of Positive Emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218-226. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positivity. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Love 2.0. How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do and Become. New York, NY: Hudson Street Press.
Fredrickson, B. L., Cohn, M. A., Coffey, K. A., Pek, J., & Finkel, S. M. (2008). Open Hearts Build Lives: Positive Emotions, Induced Through. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1045-1062. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0013262
Gander, G., Hofmann, J., Proyer, R. T., & Ruch, W. (2020). Character Strengths— Stability, Change, and Relationships with Well-Being Changes. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 15, 349-367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9690-4
Ghawadra, S. F., Abdullah, K. L., Choo, W. Y., & Phang, C. K. (2019). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Psychological Distress among Nurses: A Systematic Review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28, 377-3758. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14987
Gilmartin, H., Goyal, A., Hamati, M. C., Mann, J., Saint, S., & Chopra, V. (2017). Brief Mindfulness Practices for Healthcare—A Systematic Review. American Journal of Medicine, 130, 1219.E1-1219.E17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2017.05.041
Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative Content Analysis in Nursing Research: Concepts, Procedures, and Measures to Achieve Trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24, 105-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001
Jackson, D., Firtko, A., & Edenborough, M. (2007). Personal Resilience as a Strategy for Surviving and Thriving in the Face of. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04412.x
Kiken, L. G., Lundberg, K. B., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2017). Being Present and Enjoying It: Dispositional Mindfulness and Savoring the Moment Are Distinct, Interactive Predictors of Positive Emotions and Psychological Health. Mindfulness, 8, 1280-1290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0704-3
Kleinheksel, A. J., Rockich-Winston, N., Tawfik, H., & Wyatt, T. R. (2020). Demystifying Content Analysis. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84, 7113. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7113
Layous, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The How, Why, What, When, and Who of Happiness: Mechanisms Underlying the Success of Positive Activity Interventions. In J. Gruber, & J. T. Moskowitz (Ed.), Positive Emotion (pp. 473-495). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199926725.003.0025
Lubormirsky, S., & Layous, K. (2013). How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0963721412469809
Masten, A. S., Best, A. S., & Garmezy, N. (2008). Resilience and development: Contributions from the Study of Children Who Overcome Adversity. Developement and psychopathology, 2, 425-444. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579400005812
McAlister, M., & Lowe, J. B. (2011). Preparing for Practice. In M. McAlister, & J. B. Lowe (Eds.), The Resilient Nurse (pp. 17). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
McDonald, G., Jackson, D., Wilkes, L., & Vickers, M. H. (2012). A Work-Based Educational Intervention to Support the Development of Personal. Nurse Education Today, 32, 378-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2011.04.012
Neff, K. D. (2003). The Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Self-Compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223-250. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860309027
Neff, K. D. (2016). The Self-Compassion Scale Is a Valid and Theoretically Coherent Measure of Self Compassion. Mindfulness, 7, 1009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0560-6
Reivich, K., & Shatté, A. (2002). The Resilience Factor (1st ed.). New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
Riet, P. V., Levett-Jones, T., & Aqino-Russel, C. (2018). The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Meditation for Nurses and Nursing Students: An Integrated Literature Review. Nurse Education Today, 65, 201-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.03.018
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2020). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation from a Self-Determination Theory Perspective: Definitions, Theory, Practices, and Future Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61, Article ID: 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101860
Segal, Z. V., Williams, M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2013). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guildford Press.
Seligman, M. (2002). Positive Psychology, Positive Prevention and Positive Therapy. In C. R. Snyder, & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of Positive Psychology (pp. 3-9). Cary, NC: Oxford University Press US.
Seligman, M. (2018). PERMA and the Building Blocks of Well-Being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13, 333-335. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1437466
Seligman, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Positive Psychology: An Introduction. In M. Csikszentmihalyi (Ed.), Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology (pp. 279-298). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_18
Seligman, M., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive Psychology Progress. American Psychologist, 60, 410-421. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410
Topp, C. W., Østergaard, S. D., Søndergaard, S., & Bech, P. (2015). The WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84, 167-176. https://doi.org/10.1159/000376585
Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back From. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320-333. https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.320