Evaluation of a Biofeedback-assisted Meditation Program as a Stress Management Tool for Hospital Nurses: A Pilot Study

Stress is a common problem with significant ramifications for health. This is especially true in the workplace and particularly true for nurses practicing in a hospital environment. A number of factors (e.g. an aging population, the obesity epidemic, patients presenting with multi-system diseases, etc.) have dramatically increased the demands on hospital nurses in the past decade. This increased stress has potential ramifications at a personal level (e.g. increased risk of ill health) as well as an institutional (e.g. higher staff turnover). Meditation has been shown to be an effective tool for stress management. A self-directed, computer-guided meditation training program that can be pursued independently may be particularly useful for hospital nurses where scheduling challenges may preclude the use of scheduled classes. Healing Rhythms™ is a computer program that teaches meditation and uses biofeedback (heart rate variability and galvanic skin response) to reinforce the training.