Addressing Pandemic Burnout Among Health Care Professionals: Beyond Intrapersonal Wellness Programming.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been distressing to health care professionals, causing significant burnout. Burnout has resulted in notable rates of mental health symptoms and job turnover. Hospitals have incorporated programming to meet the needs of health care professionals. A previously reported intervention at the study institution was a cognitive behavioral narrative writing program to target job-related stress. On the basis of participant feedback, psychoeducational seminars, psychotherapy drop-in sessions, and complementary interventions (mindfulness, yoga, and acupuncture) were also implemented to alleviate stress. This article is an update based on these year 2 augmentations. Participation in brief psychoeducational seminars and acupuncture was high, but engagement in other programming (individual psychotherapy and mindfulness) was poor. Hospitals should consider multimodal approaches to address pandemic-related stress and burnout. In addition to educational seminars, programs that address lasting distress should be offered to health care professionals. Targeting job-related burnout at organizational and systemic levels may ameliorate distress. This article discusses methods of integrating organizational programs into clinics.

Psychometric Properties of a Modified Athlete Burnout Questionnaire in the Collegiate Athletics Setting.

CONTEXT: Mental health is an important component of holistic care in athletic settings. Burnout is one of many factors associated with poor mental health, and clinicians should assess for these symptoms. The Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) has been proposed as a measure of burnout in athletes; however, design concerns are prevalent within the scale, and psychometric analyses have resulted in inconsistent measurement properties, limiting the usefulness of the scale for accurate assessment of burnout in athletes. The objective of our study was to assess the factor structure of the Alternate Modified ABQ-15v2 using confirmatory factor analysis. If model fit was inadequate, a secondary purpose was to identify a psychometrically sound alternate ABQ model. DESIGN: Observational study. METHODS: Intercollegiate athletes and dancers pursuing a degree in dance (n = 614) were recruited from programs across the United States. Individuals had varied health statuses (eg, healthy, injured), scholarship support, and participated in a variety of intercollegiate sports. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the modified 15-item ABQ (Alternate Modified ABQ-15v2). Exploratory factor analysis and covariance modeling of a proposed alternate 9-item scale (ABQ-9) was conducted and multigroup invariance analysis was assessed across athlete category, class standing, and student-athlete scholarship status to assess consistency of item interpretation across subgroups. RESULTS: The Modified ABQ did not meet recommended model fit criteria. The ABQ-9 met all recommended model fit indices but was not invariant across athlete category. CONCLUSIONS: The ABQ-9 may be a viable and efficient option for assessing burnout in the collegiate athletics setting. However, further research is needed to validate the ABQ-9 in a cross-validation study.

Effectiveness of a Mindful Compassion Care Program in reducing burnout and psychological distress amongst frontline hospital nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that nurses have been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than any other group of hospital workers in terms of anxiety, depression, and burnout. Several clinical studies had previously demonstrated the effectiveness of mindfulness and compassion interventions in reducing burnout and emotional distress amongst healthcare professionals. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A parallel-group randomized controlled trial will assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-focused programme on frontline nurses who had been working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-two participants will be recruited from Verona University Hospital Trust (Veneto Region, north-east Italy) and will be divided equally into an intervention group and a control group. Primary outcome will be assessed using the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS). Secondary outcomes will be measured by the Cynicism and Professional Efficacy subscales of the MBI-GS, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Impact of Stressful Events (IES-R), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Forms of Self-Criticising/attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS). DISCUSSION: The study aims to fill a gap in the literature and present a scientifically validated intervention for those healthcare professionals most exposed to the stressful conditions of working during the COVID-19 pandemic. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT05308537.

Burnout among midwives-the factorial structure of the burnout assessment tool and an assessment of burnout levels in a Swedish national sample.

BACKGROUND: Many workplaces, within the healthcare sector, experience high rates of mental health problems such as burnout, anxiety, and depression, due to poor psychosocial working conditions and midwives are not an exception. To develop preventive interventions, epidemiologic surveillance of burnout levels, and their relation to professional specific working conditions is needed. Aims of this study is to assess the construct validity of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) in the context of Swedish midwives, to evaluate whether the item responses can be combined into a single score and differential item functioning regarding age. Another aim was to assess the burnout levels of Swedish midwives. METHODS: Data come from a national cohort of Swedish midwives (n = 1664). The construct validity was evaluated using Rasch analysis. Burnout levels were presented by median and first (Q1) and third (Q3) quartiles for the BAT total score and the four subscales (exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive and emotional impairment). RESULTS: In the analysis including all 23 items the fit to the Rasch model was not obtained. Items within each subscale clustered together in a residual correlation matrix in a pattern consistent with the underlying conceptualization of the BAT, indicating multidimensionality. The Rasch analysis was re-run using the four testlets as input variables which resulted in a good fit. The median burnout level was 2.0 (Q1 = 1.6, Q3 = 2.4). The four subscales differentiated the picture (elevated levels on exhaustion and low levels on the other three subscales). CONCLUSIONS: The construct validity of the BAT for use in the context of Swedish midwives was confirmed. The results indicated a strong general factor, meaning that the responses can be combined into a single burnout score. The scale works invariantly for different age groups. The results of this study secure access to a validated instrument to be used for accurate assessment of the burnout levels among midwives in Sweden.

A tranquil virtual reality experience to reduce subjective stress among COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers.

OBJECTIVE: The novel coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has taken an immense physical, social, and emotional toll on frontline healthcare workers. Research has documented higher levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout among healthcare workers during the pandemic. Thus, creative interventions are needed now more than ever to provide brief, accessible support to frontline workers. Virtual reality is a rapidly growing technology with potential psychological applications. In this study, we piloted a three-minute Tranquil Cinematic-VR simulation of a nature scene to lower subjective stress among frontline healthcare workers in COVID-19 treatment units. We chose to film a nature scene because of the extensive empirical literature documenting the benefits of nature exposure and health. METHODS: A convenience sample of frontline healthcare workers, including direct care providers, indirect care providers, and support or administrative services, were recruited from three COVID-19 units located in the United States. Inclusion criteria for participation included adults aged 18 years and older who could read and speak in English and were currently employed by the healthcare system. Participants viewed a 360-degree video capture of a lush, green nature preserve in an Oculus Go or Pico G2 4K head-mounted display. Prior to viewing the simulation, participants completed a brief demographic questionnaire and the visual analogue scale to rate their subjective stress on a 10-point scale, with 1 = 'Not at all stressed' to 10 = 'Extremely stressed.' We conducted paired t-tests to examine pre- and post-simulation changes in subjective stress as well as Kruskal-Wallis tests and Mann-Whitney U tests to examine differences by demographic variables. All analyses were conducted in SPSS statistical software version 28.0. We defined statistical significance as a p-value less than .05. RESULTS: A total of 102 individuals consented to participate in the study. Eighty-four (82.4%) participants reported providing direct patient care, 73 (71.6%) identified as women, 49 (48.0%) were between the ages of 25-34 years old, and 35 (34.3%) had prior experience with VR. The pre-simulation mean stress score was 5.5±2.2, with a range of 1 to 10. Thirty-three (32.4%) participants met the 6.8 cutoff for high stress pre-simulation. Pre-simulation stress scores did not differ by any demographic variables. Post-simulation, we observed a significant reduction in subjective stress scores from pre- to post-simulation (mean change = -2.2±1.7, t = 12.749, p < .001), with a Cohen's d of 1.08, indicating a very large effect. Further, only four (3.9%) participants met the cutoff for high stress after the simulation. Post-simulations scores did not differ by provider type, age range, gender, or prior experience with virtual reality. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this pilot study suggest that the application of this Tranquil Cinematic-VR simulation was effective in reducing subjective stress among frontline healthcare workers in the short-term. More research is needed to compare the Tranquil Cinematic-VR simulation to a control condition and assess subjective and objective measures of stress over time.

Pilot Study Using Neurofeedback as a Tool to Reduce Surgical Resident Burnout.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is prevalent among surgical residents. Neurofeedback is a technique to train the brain in self-regulation skills. We aimed to assess the impact of neurofeedback on the cognitive workload and personal growth areas of surgery residents with burnout and depression. STUDY DESIGN: Fifteen surgical residents with burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI] score > 27) and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Depression Screen [PHQ-9] score >10), from 1 academic institution, were enrolled and participated in this institutional review board-approved prospective study. Ten residents with more severe burnout and depression scores were assigned to receive 8 weeks of neurofeedback treatments, and 5 others with less severe symptoms were treated as controls. Each participant's cognitive workload (or mental effort) was assessed initially, and again after treatment via electroencephalogram (EEG) while the subjects performed n-back working memory tasks. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tested for significance between the degree of change in the treatment and control groups. Each subject was also asked to rate changes in growth areas, such as sleep and stress. RESULTS: Both groups showed high cognitive workload in the pre-assessment. After the neurofeedback intervention, the treatment group showed a significant (p < 0.01) improvement in cognitive workload via EEG during the working memory task. These differences were not noted in the control group. There was significant correlation between time (NFB sessions) and average improvement in all growth areas (r = 0.98) CONCLUSIONS: Residents demonstrated high levels of burnout, correlating with EEG patterns indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder. There was a notable change in cognitive workload after the neurofeedback treatment, suggesting a return to a more efficient neural network.

Factor structure of the professional quality of life scale among direct support professionals: factorial validity and scale reliability.

BACKGROUND: Direct support professionals (DSPs) support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in activities of daily living. DSPs may experience both contentment and struggles with their work. As agencies grapple with their recruitment and retention, understanding DSPs' holistic work experience is important. The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale assesses multiple domains of work experiences (i.e. compassion satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress). Despite extensive use across helping professions, the ProQOL is largely absent from DSP research. METHOD: This study examined the factor structure of the ProQOL with DSPs. Using secondary data from 495 DSPs, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine if the original three-factor structure holds for this population. RESULTS: We confirmed the factorial validity of the ProQOL with the three-factor solution. In the validation process, some modifications were suggested to the model, which also improved the scale reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides initial evidence of the factorial validity of the ProQOL when used with DSPs, as well as recommendations for subsequent improvements and future research.

A Pilot Study of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Improve Well-Being for Health Professionals Providing Chronic Disease Care.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy delivered onsite during work hours in reducing stress and improving well-being in an interdisciplinary chronic care health care team. STUDY DESIGN: A longitudinal, mixed methods, observational pilot study using a survey created from validated assessment tools to measure effectiveness of training. Surveys were completed before training, and 1 and 15 months after training. Twenty-four professionals in the cystic fibrosis Centers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the University of Cincinnati participated in 6 mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training sessions. Sessions incorporated mindfulness, cognitive therapy, and experiential exercises for processing feelings related to stress and burnout. RESULTS: The presurvey and 1-month postsurvey responses revealed statistically significant improvements for empathy, perceived stress, depersonalization, anxiety, perspective taking, resilience, and negative affect. Sustained effects were seen at 15 months for empathy, perspective taking, and depressive symptoms. The 1-month post-training surveys reported a quarter of respondents (25%) practiced skills at least 5 times in between sessions; at 15 months, 35% reported practicing at the same frequency. Participants reported using mindfulness skills for personal stressful events (74%), work-related general stress (65%), patient-related stress (30%), sleep or general relaxation (22%), and wellness (13%). CONCLUSIONS: Group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training was feasible and effective in decreasing stress for interdisciplinary cystic fibrosis care team members who elected to participate. Further investigation is needed to determine optimal dose of training, durability of perceived benefits, and generalizability to health care professionals working with other chronic disorders.

Personalised yoga for burnout and traumatic stress in junior doctors.

OBJECTIVES: Junior doctors are frequently exposed to occupational and traumatic stress, sometimes with tragic consequences. Mindfulness-based and fitness interventions are increasingly used to mitigate this, but have not been compared.We conducted a randomised, controlled pilot trial to assess the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of these interventions in junior doctors. METHODS: We randomised participants (n=21) to weekly 1-hour sessions of personalised, trauma-informed yoga (n=10), with a 4-hour workshop, and eHealth homework; or group-format fitness (n=8) in an existing wellness programme, MDOK. Burnout, traumatic stress and suicidality were measured at baseline and 8 weeks. RESULTS: Both interventions reduced burnout, and yoga increased compassion satisfaction within group on the Professional Quality of Life scale, without difference between groups on this measure.Personalised yoga significantly reduced depersonalisation (z=-1.99, p=0.05) compared with group fitness on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-HSS (MP)) and showed greater flexibility changes. Both interventions increased MBI Personal Accomplishment, with no changes in other self-report psychological or physiological metrics, including breath-counting.Participants doing one-to-one yoga rated it more highly overall (p=0.02) than group fitness, and reported it comparatively more beneficial for mental (p=0.01) and physical health (p=0.05). Face-to-face weekly sessions were 100% attended in yoga, but only 45% in fitness. CONCLUSION: In this pilot trial, both yoga and fitness improved burnout, but trauma-informed yoga reduced depersonalisation in junior doctors more than group-format fitness. One-to-one yoga was better adhered than fitness, but was more resource intensive. Junior doctors need larger-scale comparative research of the effectiveness and implementation of individual, organisational and systemic mental health interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ANZCTR 12618001467224.

Burnout in Pediatric Residents: Three Years of National Survey Data.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to describe the national epidemiology of burnout in pediatric residents. METHODS: We conducted surveys of residents at 34 programs in 2016, 43 programs in 2017, and 49 programs in 2018. Survey items included the Maslach Burnout Inventory, demographics, program characteristics, personal qualities, experiences, and satisfaction with support, work-life balance, and learning environment. Analyses included cross-sectional comparisons and cross-sectional and longitudinal regression. RESULTS: More than 60% of eligible residents participated; burnout rates were >50% in all years and not consistently associated with any demographic or residency characteristics. Cross-sectional associations were significant between burnout and stress, sleepiness, quality of life, mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy, confidence in providing compassionate care (CCC), being on a high-acuity rotation, recent major medical error, recent time off, satisfaction with support and career choice, and attitudes about residency. In cross-sectional logistic regression analyses, 4 factors were associated with an increased risk of burnout: stress, sleepiness, dissatisfaction with work-life balance, and recent medical error; 4 factors were associated with lower risk: empathy, self-compassion, quality of life, and CCC. Longitudinally, after controlling for 2017 burnout and 2018 risk factors (eg, recent error, sleepiness, rotation, and time off), 2017 quality of life was associated with 2018 burnout; 2017 self-compassion was associated with lower 2018 stress; and 2017 mindfulness, empathy, and satisfaction with learning environment and career choice were associated with 2018 CCC. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of residents met burnout criteria. Several identified factors (eg, stress, sleepiness, medical errors, empathy, CCC, and self-compassion) suggest targets for interventions to reduce burnout in future studies.

A novel mindful-compassion art therapy (MCAT) for reducing burnout and promoting resilience for end-of-life care professionals: a waitlist RCT protocol.

INTRODUCTION: End-of-life (EoL) care professionals are prone to burnout given the intense emotional nature of their work. Previous research supports the efficacy of art therapy in reducing work-related stress and enhancing emotional health among professional EoL caregivers. Integrating mindfulness meditation with art therapy and reflective awareness complementing emotional expression has immense potential for self-care and collegial support. Mindful-compassion art therapy (MCAT) is a novel, empirically informed, and highly structured intervention that aims to reduce work-related stress, cultivate resilience, and promote wellness. This study aims to assess the potential effectiveness of MCAT for supporting EoL care professionals in Singapore. METHODS: This is an open-label waitlist randomized controlled trial. Sixty EoL care professionals, including doctors, nurses, social workers, and personal care workers, are randomly allocated to one of two groups: (i) an intervention group that receives MCAT immediately and (ii) a waitlist-control group that receives MCAT after the intervention group completes treatment. Face-to-face self-administered outcome assessments are collected at three different time points-baseline (T1) for both groups, post-intervention (T2), and 6-week follow-up (T3) for intervention group-as well as pre-intervention (T2) and post-intervention (T3) for the waitlist-control group. The primary outcome measure is burnout, and secondary measures include emotional regulation, resilience, compassion, quality of life, and death attitudes. Between- and within-participant comparisons of outcomes are conducted, and the appropriate effect size estimates are reported. An acceptability and feasibility study is to be conducted by using a triangulation of qualitative data with framework analysis. DISCUSSION: The outcomes of this study will contribute to advancements in both theories and practices for supporting professional EoL caregivers around the world. It will also inform policy makers about the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of delivering a multimodal psycho-socio-spiritual intervention within a community institutional setting. The study has received ethical approval from the institutional review board of Nanyang Technological University. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03440606 . Retrospectively registered February 21, 2018.

To the Point: a prescription for well-being in medical education.

This article is from the "To The Point" series prepared by the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Undergraduate Medical Education Committee. The purpose of this review was to provide an overview of the importance of well-being in medical education. A literature search was performed by a Reference Librarian who used Ovid/MEDLINE to identify scholarly articles published in English on learner well-being, using the search terms "burnout," "resilience," "wellness," and "physicians" between 1946 and January 11, 2019. The accreditation expectations and standards, available assessment tools for learner well-being, existing programs to teach well-being, and some key elements for curriculum development are presented. This is a resource for medical educators, learners, and practicing clinicians from any field of medicine.

[Psychiatrist burnout or psychiatric assistance burnout?] / Burnout dello psichiatra o burnout dell'assistenza psichiatrica?

In recent years, mature industrial countries are rapidly changing from production economies to service economies. In this new socio-economic context, particular attention has been paid to mental health problems in the workplace. The risk of burnout is significantly higher for certain occupations, in particular for health workers. Doctors and psychiatrists, in particular, quite frequently have to make quick decisions by dealing with a huge amount of requests, which often require considerable assumptions of responsibility. In Italy, the process of corporateization and regionalization of the National Health Service has oriented clinical practice, in psychiatry, towards the rationalization and optimization of available resources, to ensure appropriateness and fairness of performances. The challenge that will soon be faced in health policy, with the progressive aging of the population, will be the growing burden of chronicity, in a context of limited resources, which will necessarily require a managerial approach in structuring and delivering services. The management of change in psychiatric assistance, today in Italy, can not be separated from a deep motivating involvement ( engagement) of professionals. In other words, it is desirable, in the effort to contain expenditure and rationalize welfare processes, to shift from burnout to the engagement of psychiatrists, investing economic and human resources in mental health services. In this review, through a selective search of the relevant literature 2010-2017 conducted on PubMed (key words: stress, burnout, psychiatry, mental health), the information from original articles, reviews and book chapters was analyzed and summarized. about the presence of burnout syndrome among psychiatrists. This article examines the concept of burnout, its causes and the most appropriate preventive and therapeutic interventions applicable to psychiatrists.

El yoga como alternativa al sedentarismo / Yoga as an alternative to a sedentary lifestyle

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Resident Wellness: An Intervention to Decrease Burnout and Increase Resiliency and Happiness.

Introduction: Despite the national focus on trainee burnout, effective wellness programs that can easily be incorporated into training curriculums are lacking. Strategies such as mindfulness and positive psychology, linked with deep breathing, have been shown to increase resiliency. We hypothesized that education about the neuroscience literature, coupled with teaching about well-being using short, easy-to-practice evidence-based exercises, would increase acceptance of this curriculum among residents and that providing protected time to practice these exercises would help trainees incorporate them into their daily lives. Methods: Residents were asked to attend a 60-minute didactic featuring both the concepts and science behind well-being. Residents then attended 15-minute booster sessions during protected didactic time each week for a 12-week curriculum. The booster sessions were peer-led by wellness champions. Additionally, there were monthly competitions using free phone apps to promote physical fitness through steps and flights challenges. Results: The 12-week curriculum was offered to 272 residents across five subspecialties of internal medicine, general surgery, anesthesiology, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. A total of 188 residents (69%) participated in the initial didactic component. The curriculum was positively received, with four of the five residency programs participating in weekly sessions. Residents in four participating departments then chose to continue the weekly sessions on a voluntary basis after the initial 12-week curriculum. Discussion: It is feasible to implement a low-cost, peer-led wellness curriculum to educate residents and foster an environment during residency training where mindfulness, optimism, gratitude, and social connectedness are the norm.

Orthopaedic Surgeon Burnout: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.

Burnout is a syndrome marked by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low job satisfaction. Rates of burnout in orthopaedic surgeons are higher than those in the general population and many other medical subspecialties. Half of all orthopaedic surgeons show symptoms of burnout, with the highest rates reported in residents and orthopaedic department chairpersons. This syndrome is associated with poor outcomes for surgeons, institutions, and patients. Validated instruments exist to objectively diagnose burnout, although family members and colleagues should be aware of early warning signs and risk factors, such as irritability, withdrawal, and failing relationships at work and home. Emerging evidence indicates that mindfulness-based interventions or educational programs combined with meditation may be effective treatment options. Orthopaedic residency programs, departments, and practices should focus on identifying the signs of burnout and implementing prevention and treatment programs that have been shown to mitigate symptoms.

Validation of Single-Item Screening Measures for Provider Burnout in a Rural Health Care Network.

We validated three single-item measures for emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP) among rural physician/nonphysician practitioners. We linked cross-sectional survey data (on provider demographics, satisfaction, resilience, and burnout) with administrative information from an integrated health care network (1 academic medical center, 6 community hospitals, 31 clinics, and 19 school-based health centers) in an eight-county underserved area of upstate New York. In total, 308 physicians and advanced-practice clinicians completed a self-administered, multi-instrument questionnaire (65.1% response rate). Significant proportions of respondents reported high EE (36.1%) and DP (9.9%). In multivariable linear mixed models, scores on EE/DP subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory were regressed on each single-item measure. The Physician Work-Life Study's single-item measure (classifying 32.8% of respondents as burning out/completely burned out) was correlated with EE and DP (Spearman's ρ = .72 and .41, p < .0001; Kruskal-Wallis χ(2) = 149.9 and 56.5, p < .0001, respectively). In multivariable models, it predicted high EE (but neither low EE nor low/high DP). EE/DP single items were correlated with parent subscales (Spearman's ρ = .89 and .81, p < .0001; Kruskal-Wallis χ(2) = 230.98 and 197.84, p < .0001, respectively). In multivariable models, the EE item predicted high/low EE, whereas the DP item predicted only low DP. Therefore, the three single-item measures tested varied in effectiveness as screeners for EE/DP dimensions of burnout.

Evaluation of the effect of a 1-day interventional workshop on recovery from job stress for radiation therapists and oncology nurses: A randomised trial.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer care workers experience high levels of occupational stress that can have adverse mental and physical health consequences. Educating health professionals about self-care practices throughout their careers can potentially build resilience. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of an educational intervention to improve recovery from job stress, increase satisfaction with current self-care practices and improve sleep quality. METHODS: An equivalent, randomised comparison, pretest-post-test intervention design was used to investigate the effects of a 1-day workshop (plus educational material) compared with written educational material alone, on measures of recovery experiences (i.e. psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences and control over leisure), satisfaction with recovery-related self-care practices and perceived sleep quality of 70 cancer care workers. RESULTS: Workshop participants reported greater mean changes 6 weeks post-workshop for total recovery experiences (F(1,69) = 8.145, P = .008), self-care satisfaction (F(1,69) = 8.277, P = .005) and perceived sleep quality (F(1,69) = 9.611, P = .003). There was a decline in the scores of the control group over the 6-week period for all measures. Workshop participants not only avoided this decline, but demonstrated increased mean scores, with a significant main effect 6 weeks post-workshop, compared with the control group (F(3,63) = 4.262, P = .008). CONCLUSIONS: A 1-day intervention workshop improved recovery skills, satisfaction with self-care practices and perceived sleep quality of oncology nurses and radiation therapists. Outcomes were enhanced when participants actively participated in experiential group-based learning compared with receiving written material alone. This intervention has the potential to enhance resilience and prevent burnout at different points in a cancer worker's career.

Meditation, stress relief, and well-being.

As the pace of life increases, stress is becoming endemic, and in the radiologic sciences, stress is keenly felt by technologists and patients. Meditation, a potential remedy to stress, is the subject of an increasing number of medical studies that often rely upon radiologic imaging scans to determine the physiological effects of meditation on brain activity. A wide range of meditation techniques have beneficial effects on the mind, body, and emotions. Radiologic technologists might find that meditation improves their quality of life as well as their level of job satisfaction, allowing them to provide improved quality of care to their patients.