Other Titles
Rising Star Poster
Abstract
Background: Post-pandemic surveys show continue to show high rates of exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, and intention to leave the job in hospital nurses. Early-career nurses who experience burnout and exhaustion in the first 1-3 years of their career have a job turnover rate of approximately 46%, and are more prone to physical complaints, insomnia, and cognitive problems 10 years later. Few studies have focused on using mental health mobile apps (mHealth) in the hospital nurse population to help decrease the negative effects of a stressful work environment.
Purpose: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) pilot study has three aims: 1. to determine the feasibility and acceptability of using a mindfulness-based mHealth intervention, and the appropriateness of the intervention for the early-career nurse population; 2. to determine if a mindfulness mHealth app can be used as a mediator to buffer the harmful effects of a stressful work environment ; 3. to examine the relationships among the amount time the mHealth app is used and reported anxiety, stress, burnout, job satisfaction, and intent to stay.
Methods: A sample of 60 early-career direct-care registered nurses will be recruited from the campus of a mid-west academic teaching facility.
Inclusion Criteria: Nurses who have at least one year but less than four years of full-time experience, who own a smartphone capable of running an mHealth MBI.
Exclusion Criteria: regular use of any mindfulness program in the previous three months.
We will use a pragmatic RCT pilot with a two-group, repeated measures design, to compare pretest-posttest and follow-up variable measures.
The study duration is 4 weeks, with surveys conducted at baseline and 4 weeks, with a follow-up at 8 weeks.
The control group will receive an Employee Wellness Resource packet (treatment as usual) and be asked to browse through the packet and participate in any activity they feel would be helpful during the study period.
The intervention group will receive access to the mHealth app Headspace. The “Take 10” introductory Headspace program is an introduction to the content available in the app. Each module takes about ten minutes to complete and delivers content on mindfulness meditation, breath work, body scanning, managing stress, identifying emotions, improving sleep, relaxing, and much more. Participants will be asked to use the app for 10 minutes a day, three days a week while not at work, for 4 weeks.
Results: pending study completion
Notes
References:
1. Berlin G, Burns F, Hanley A, Herbig B, Judge K, Murphy M. Understanding and prioritizing nurses’ mental health and well-being. Published online 2023.
2. Bae SH. Comprehensive assessment of factors contributing to the actual turnover of newly licensed registered nurses working in acute care hospitals: a systematic review. BMC Nurs. 2023;22(1):31. doi:10.1186/s12912-023-01190-3
3. Rudman A, Arborelius L, Dahlgren A, Finnes A, Gustavsson P. Consequences of early career nurse burnout: A prospective long-term follow-up on cognitive functions, depressive symptoms, and insomnia. EClinicalMedicine. 2020;27:100565. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100565
4. Teresi JA, Yu X, Stewart AL, Hays RD. Guidelines for Designing and Evaluating Feasibility Pilot Studies. Med Care. 2022;60(1):95-103. doi:10.1097/MLR.0000000000001664
5. Sundberg T, Skillgate E, Gustavsson P, Rudman A. Early career demanding psychosocial work environment and severe back pain and neck/shoulder pain in experienced nurses: A cohort study. Scand J Public Health. 2024;52(4):427-433. doi:10.1177/14034948231151992
Sigma Membership
Epsilon
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Early Career Nurses, mHealth App, Burnout, Retention
Recommended Citation
Moore, Cynthia, "mHealth for Nurses' Mental Health" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 2.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/posters_2025/2
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
mHealth for Nurses' Mental Health
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Background: Post-pandemic surveys show continue to show high rates of exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, and intention to leave the job in hospital nurses. Early-career nurses who experience burnout and exhaustion in the first 1-3 years of their career have a job turnover rate of approximately 46%, and are more prone to physical complaints, insomnia, and cognitive problems 10 years later. Few studies have focused on using mental health mobile apps (mHealth) in the hospital nurse population to help decrease the negative effects of a stressful work environment.
Purpose: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) pilot study has three aims: 1. to determine the feasibility and acceptability of using a mindfulness-based mHealth intervention, and the appropriateness of the intervention for the early-career nurse population; 2. to determine if a mindfulness mHealth app can be used as a mediator to buffer the harmful effects of a stressful work environment ; 3. to examine the relationships among the amount time the mHealth app is used and reported anxiety, stress, burnout, job satisfaction, and intent to stay.
Methods: A sample of 60 early-career direct-care registered nurses will be recruited from the campus of a mid-west academic teaching facility.
Inclusion Criteria: Nurses who have at least one year but less than four years of full-time experience, who own a smartphone capable of running an mHealth MBI.
Exclusion Criteria: regular use of any mindfulness program in the previous three months.
We will use a pragmatic RCT pilot with a two-group, repeated measures design, to compare pretest-posttest and follow-up variable measures.
The study duration is 4 weeks, with surveys conducted at baseline and 4 weeks, with a follow-up at 8 weeks.
The control group will receive an Employee Wellness Resource packet (treatment as usual) and be asked to browse through the packet and participate in any activity they feel would be helpful during the study period.
The intervention group will receive access to the mHealth app Headspace. The “Take 10” introductory Headspace program is an introduction to the content available in the app. Each module takes about ten minutes to complete and delivers content on mindfulness meditation, breath work, body scanning, managing stress, identifying emotions, improving sleep, relaxing, and much more. Participants will be asked to use the app for 10 minutes a day, three days a week while not at work, for 4 weeks.
Results: pending study completion
Description
This pilot RCT explores if using a mindfulness mental health mobile health app (mHealth) can improve anxiety, stress, burnout, job satisfaction, and intent to stay in early-career, direct-care hospital nurses.