Brief Workplace Interventions Addressing Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Teamwork: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Burnout and compassion fatigue are problematic for nurses, patients, and organizations. Identifying brief interventions nurses can engage in while at work to address compassion fatigue, burnout, and teamwork, as burnout and teamwork are inversely related, is important for all stakeholders. This quasi-experimental pilot study sought to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of five-minute interventions on nurses' burnout, compassion fatigue, and perceptions of teamwork. Nurses were randomized into five groups: meditation, journaling, gratitude, outside, and control. Participants engaged in the interventions, the majority of shifts worked, and many expressed a desire to continue after the six-week intervention period. Cohen's d effect sizes were greatest for burnout, range 0.495-0.757, and situation monitoring, range 0.252-1.1. The journaling group had the highest burnout (-11.88%), compassion satisfaction (7.54%), situation monitoring (-21.21%), and communication (-26.47%) Delta scores. Feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of these brief workplace interventions were preliminarily established to inform a larger study.

Keywords: Burnout; compassion fatigue; nursing practice; pilot study; professional quality of life; teamwork.