Art based psychotherapy in the work place A mixed methods study on Resilience Sleep Quality and Anxiety among nurses

This study examines the effectiveness of a systematic four week art based psychotherapy program on the mental well being of female nurses employed in a private hospital in Chennai. Nurses are subject to enormous mental health problems because their profession is stressful in nature, there is an irregular schedule of work shifts, and they have additional domestic duties. These stressors tend to cause increased anxiety, emotional exhaustion and disturbed sleep patterns, all problems that tend to go unnoticed in typical employee wellness programs. Female nurses particularly suffer from a double burden of professional and personal roles, resulting in chronic stress and inadequate emotional release.

This research seeks to explore the potential of art based therapy as a non-verbal, experimental and reflective intervention to lower levels of anxiety, increase resilience and enhance sleep quality in this group. A purposive sample of 50 female nurses between the ages of 25 to 45 years will be taken from a private hospital. Standardized instruments, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale HAM-A, Rushton Moral Resilience Scale RMRS-16, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index PSQI will be used pre- and post-intervention to measure changes. The intervention will consist of four weeks of face-to-face sessions, once a week for one hour with a certified art therapist, and follow-up assignments which will be sent digitally through Google Classroom to enhance continuity and self-maintenance. The intervention will consist of two art-based therapy techniques Gratitude Mandala Colouring and Scribbling. A one-month post-intervention follow-up examination will evaluate the long-term effect of the therapy.

By identifying the efficacy of a low-cost, non-stigmatizing intervention, the results of this study may guide the creation of individualized mental health initiatives in the healthcare industry. The study aspires to promote the wider integration of innovative therapeutic approaches within workplace mental health frameworks, especially in diverse and resource-constrained settings like India. Ultimately, it seeks to strengthen the emotional resilience and overall psychological well-being of female nurses, thereby enhancing both their professional performance and personal quality of life.