Digital program reduces burnout and anxiety in distressed nurses

Burnout, depression, anxiety, and suicide are increasing in the nursing and overall health care workforce, which adversely impacts health care quality and safety. A recent randomized clinical trial published in Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing shows that nurses experiencing mental distress benefited from combining mental health screening with a digital, self-delivered version of a cognitive behavioral skills–building program.

In the trial, 501 U.S. nurses experiencing mental distress were randomized to either mental health screening and referral (standard care) or standard care plus the video-based version of the MINDBODYSTRONG© (MBS) program (intervention). Follow-up surveys administered at 3 months and 6 months assessed anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, burnout, healthy lifestyle beliefs, and healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Compared with the screening and referral only group, participants in the intervention group had greater reductions in anxiety and depression and greater increases in healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors at 3 months and 6 months. The intervention group reported that suicidal ideation decreased by approximately 80%, and burnout was cut by more than 40% at 6 months following the intervention. Uptake in healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors also increased at 3 and 6 months at greater rates than screening and referral alone.

"Burnout and mental distress among nurses are public health emergencies both across our country and around the world," said Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAAN, academy professor emeritus at The Ohio State University who served as principal investigator and corresponding author of the clinical trial. "We know from research that improving the mental health and well-being of our nurses not only relieves their burnout and distress, but also reduces medical errors, turnover, and health care costs. Now is the time for urgent action to be taken to offer evidence-based mental health screening and the MINDBODYSTRONG^® program to improve outcomes for both health systems and the largest health care workforce profession."