Effect of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Training on First Clinical Day Stress in First-Year Nursing Students

April 4, 2026 updated by: Gamze Bolattürk, Suleyman Demirel University

The Effect of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Training on Reducing First Clinical Day Stress in First-Year Nursing Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Clinical practice is a fundamental component of nursing education; however, it can be a major source of stress, particularly for first-year students. The first clinical day is often associated with high levels of anxiety due to uncertainty, fear of making mistakes, and perceived inadequacy.

Mindfulness-based approaches have been shown to enhance coping skills and facilitate adaptation to clinical environments. However, most existing interventions are long-term, and evidence regarding short, pre-clinical interventions is limited.

This randomized controlled trial aims to examine the effect of a brief mindfulness-based training administered one day before clinical placement on reducing anticipatory stress and first clinical day stress among first-year nursing students. Participants will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Data will be collected using the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS).

The findings are expected to contribute to evidence-based improvements in pre-clinical preparation in nursing education.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Clinical stress negatively affects nursing students' learning processes, self-confidence, and clinical performance. The first clinical experience is particularly associated with increased stress and anxiety levels.

Mindfulness-based interventions help individuals regulate stress responses by promoting non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. While previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of mindfulness programs, they have predominantly focused on long-term interventions.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term mindfulness-based training delivered one day prior to clinical practice. The study uniquely examines both anticipatory stress (before clinical exposure) and experienced stress (after the first clinical day).

The intervention includes breathing awareness, body awareness, and short mindfulness exercises delivered in a four different sessions time before first clinical experince. The results are expected to provide practical and evidence-based contributions to nursing education.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
63

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • First-year nursing students
  • First clinical practice experience
  • Voluntary participation

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal to participate in the study
  • Prior awareness training received
  • Absence

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Brief Mindfulness-Based Training

The intervention planned in the study was a brief mindfulness-based training program. Students in the intervention group, preparing for their initial clinical practice, received mindfulness-based training in four different sessions before their clinical internships.

The training included short mindfulness exercises aimed at breath awareness, body awareness, awareness of thoughts and feelings, reducing stress, and increasing present moment awareness.
Behavioral: Brief Mindfulness-Based Training
The intervention planned in this study is a brief mindfulness-based training program. Students in the experimental group, preparing for their first clinical practice, received four separate mindfulness-based training sessions before their first clinical day experience. The training included breath awareness, body awareness, awareness of thoughts and feelings, and short mindfulness exercises. Students in the experimental group completed the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) before the mindfulness training session and the Perceived Stress Scale one day before the clinical practice. Students in the control group completed both the MAAS and the Perceived Stress Scale one day before the clinical practice. Students in both the experimental and control groups completed the MAAS and the Perceived Stress Scale again at the end of their first clinical day. Differences between the groups will be evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the intervention on stress and mindful awarenes
No Intervention: Control Group

The control group students will receive routine clinical preparation as part of the standard nursing curriculum. No additional intervention or training will be administered prior to their first clinical practice.

Participants in this group will proceed with their usual pre-clinical orientation process and will not receive the mindfulness-based training provided to the intervention group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perceived clinical stress level
Time Frame: T0: One day before first clinical day practice T1: End of first clinical day
Measured using the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students
T0: One day before first clinical day practice T1: End of first clinical day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mindfulness level
Time Frame: T0: Pre-intervention T1: End of first clinical day
Measured using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)
T0: Pre-intervention T1: End of first clinical day

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Suleyman Demirel University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 19, 2026

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 25, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 26, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 4, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • MINDFUL-NURS-2026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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