Effects of a Stress Management Training Program With Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program applied to a sample of Turkish nursing students. Method: The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial. Program sessions of 90 to 95 minutes were given twice per week for 12 weeks. Data were collected using the Nursing Education Stress Scale, the Mindfulness Scale, and the Stress Management Styles Scale. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in the mean posttest and mean follow-up scores obtained by the control group and the experimental group on the Nursing Education Stress Scale and its subdimensions. On the Mindfulness Scale, a statistically significant difference was found between the mean pretest and posttest scores obtained by the experiment and control groups. Conclusion: The results derived from this study suggest that the mindfulness-based stress reduction program is effective in reducing the stress experienced by students during nursing education, increasing their mindfulness, strengthening their coping mechanisms for stress, increasing their use of self-confident and optimistic approaches, and decreasing their use of the helpless approach.