The Effects of an Educational Program on the Professional Quality of Life and Health of Nurses: A Cluster Experimental Design.

BACKGROUND The complexity of the healthcare environment and intense workloads may negatively impact the health and professional quality of life (ProQOL) of nurses. Prior research has identified a significant association in nurses between ProQOL and health. Developing an intervention to improve the ProQOL and health of nurses may benefit the quality of nursing care. PURPOSE The aim of this study was to explore the effects of a compassion fatigue Resiliency, mindfulness Respiration, and Relatives and friends' support (i.e., 3Rs) educational program on ProQOL, physical health, and mental health in nurses. METHODS A cluster experimental design was used in this study to recruit registered nurses at two regional teaching hospitals in southern Taiwan as participants. The experimental group (n = 67) attended the 4-week (2-hours-per-week) 3R educational program. The control group (n = 57) received no intervention. The outcome variables, including compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, physical health, and mental health, were measured at baseline, at the end of the intervention (immediate effect), at 4 weeks postintervention (short-term effect), and at 12 weeks postintervention (medium-term effect). The study was conducted from May 2017 to December 2017. RESULTS Increases in compassion satisfaction and mental health and decreases in secondary traumatic stress were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group between baseline and all three posttest time points. Moreover, burnout decreased and physical health improved more significantly in the experimental group than in the control group between the baseline and end of intervention time points (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE The 3R educational program intervention, integrating compassion fatigue resiliency, mindfulness respiration, and support from relatives and friends, had immediate and positive effects on ProQOL as well as physical and mental health. Moreover, the intervention was shown to have short-term and medium-term positive effects on compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and mental health. Nursing managers may apply programs that integrate compassion fatigue resiliency, mindfulness respiration, and relatives and friends' support to improve ProQOL and health in nurses.