The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation

The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation Practice on Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Psychological Well-Being of Health Professionals Working in Oncology Units: Randomized Controlled Study

Cancer is a disease that causes the most deaths worldwide and is challenging for patients and caregivers both physically and psychosocially. Physicians and nurses working in oncology clinics perform a demanding profession providing compassionate care and treatment to patients struggling with life-threatening diseases. The emotional cost of caring for patients diagnosed with cancer can lead to compassion fatigue, burnout, and decreased psychological well-being among healthcare professionals. For this reason, this research is planned as a randomized controlled study to examine the effect of Mindfulness meditation practice on compassion fatigue, burnout, and psychological well-being in physicians and nurses working in oncology units.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Burnout; Compassion Fatigue; Psychological Well-Being
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 64
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Bugse Yuceer; Phone Number: buseozgundondu34@gmail.com; Email: buseozgundondu34@gmail.com

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Ankara, Turkey
    • Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Actively working in oncology clinics
• At least 1 year of working experience in an oncology clinic
• Not having a physical/mental/psychological disorder that would prevent participation in the research.
• Oncology nurses with a high school, undergraduate, associate or graduate degree in nursing
• Physicians and nurses who volunteer to participate in the research will be included in the research sample.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physicians and nurses who have been diagnosed with a psychological disease in the last two years and are continuing their medical treatment • Physicians and nurses who did not agree to participate in the research

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mindfulness Meditation Group; During the first meeting, before the planned training, data will be collected face to face using the personal information form, Compassion Fatigue Brief Scale, Maslach Burnout Scale, Psychological Well-Being Scale. Physicians and nurses in the intervention group were given group counseling sessions by the researcher, in groups of 10-15 people, for 20 minutes once a week for 8 weeks. An online meditation practice will be provided for a long time. At the end of the mindfulness meditation application (in the 8th week) and four weeks after the end of the application (in the 12th week) for follow-up purposes, data will be collected through an online survey for physicians and nurses using Compassion Fatigue Brief Scale, Maslach Burnout Scale, Psychological Well-Being Scale.	Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation; Mindfulness Meditation application will be implemented online by the researcher in 20-minute group sessions once a week for 8 weeks. Participants will be asked to provide a quiet, ventilated, dimly lit environment for the practice. The researcher will start the application when the participants take their places as they feel comfortable. In the first stage, the researcher will teach physicians and nurses to take deep diaphragmatic breaths through the nose and out through the mouth.
No Intervention: Control Group; During the first meeting, data will be collected face to face using the personal information form, MY-KÖ, MTÖ and PİÖÖ. In the 8th and 12th weeks of the research, the data will be re-administered to the physicians and nurses in the control group via an online survey using Compassion Fatigue Brief Scale, Maslach Burnout Scale, Psychological Well-Being Scale. After the implementation process of the research is completed, mindfulness meditation application will be applied online once to the physicians and nurses in the control group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
compassion fatigue	At the end of the mindfulness meditation practice in oncology physicians and nurses the Compassion Fatigue Brief Scale will be used to measure the changes in compassion fatigue. As the scores obtained from the compassion fatigue brief scale increase, the perceived level of compassion fatigue in individuals increases. The lowest score from the scale is 13 and the highest score is 130.	up to 8 weeks
burnout	At the end of the mindfulness meditation practice in oncology physicians and nurses the Maslach Burnout Scale will be used to measure the changes in the level of burnout. Increasing Maslach Burnout Scale "Depersonalization" and "Emotional exhaustion" subscale scores indicate that burnout increases, while increasing the "personal success" subscale score indicates that burnout decreases.	up to 8 weeks
psychological well-being	At the end of the mindfulness meditation practice in oncology physicians and nurses and the Psychological Well-Being Scale will be used to evaluate the changes in the level of psychological well-being. A high score on the psychological well-being scale indicates that the person is at a positive level psychologically. The highest score from the scale is 56, while the minimum score is 8.	up to 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
compassion fatigue	Four weeks after the end of the mindfulness meditation practice in oncology physicians and nurses the Compassion Fatigue Brief Scale will be used to measure the changes in compassion fatigue. As the scores obtained from the compassion fatigue brief scale increase, the perceived level of compassion fatigue in individuals increases. The lowest score from the scale is 13 and the highest score is 130.	up to 12 weeks
burnout	Four weeks after the end of the mindfulness meditation practice in oncology physicians and nurses the Maslach Burnout Scale will be used to measure the changes in the level of burnout. Increasing Maslach Burnout Scale "Depersonalization" and "Emotional exhaustion" subscale scores indicate that burnout increases, while increasing the "personal success" subscale score indicates that burnout decreases.	up to 12 weeks
psychological well-being	Four weeks after the end of the mindfulness meditation practice in oncology physicians and nurses and the Psychological Well-Being Scale will be used to evaluate the changes in the level of psychological well-being. A high score on the psychological well-being scale indicates that the person is at a positive level psychologically. The highest score from the scale is 56, while the minimum score is 8.	up to 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Gulhane Training and Research Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 9, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): February 28, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 12, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: psychological well-being; burnout; Mindfulness meditation; compassion fatigue; oncology units; health professionals
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Occupational Stress; Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological; Mental Fatigue; Burnout, Psychological; Compassion Fatigue; Fatigue
• Other Study ID Numbers: ---Oncology-Nursing-2024---

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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No