This intervention plan is based on the idea of the importance of a mindfulness meditation program for nurses who have to work with high mortality patients during a pandemic. It is expected to work for eight weeks; however, two additional weeks have to be considered as an opportunity for the researcher to clarify a situation with participants, analyze available data, and cooperate with stakeholders. Weekly monitoring plays a crucial role in this project because it contributes to better evaluation, observation, feedback, and communication.
Week 1: During the first week, it is necessary to check all processes and preparations. A proposal is offered to the ethics committee and an administrative team of a hospital in terms of which the main idea of the intervention is explained, and the rights and responsibilities of participants are discussed. Observations of nurses, their working conditions, cooperation, and practices are necessary this week to make sure that a mindfulness program can be properly introduced and accepted in the facility.
Week 2: It is the period of the first direct contact with the participants. If the researcher has already gathered some information about potential participants, their duties, and roles, nurses know nothing about this research and their contributions to this intervention. During this week, nurses are informed about their participation in order to make a decision either to agree or to neglect the offer. The final step of this week is signing informed consent that is an agreement between a research team and nurses as direct participants and sources of information.
Week 3: This week aims at educating nurses and providing them with all theoretical aspects of the intervention. Now, it is high time for nurses to understand the importance of a mindfulness meditation program. With the help of PowerPoint presentations, specially developed handouts, and a professional educator, nurses take several lessons in a conference room. Information about nurse burnout, stress, and obligations are properly introduced to nurses during 1-2 hour lectures three times per week. Nurses have to visit these meetings to improve their awareness of the relationship between work stress and meditation. Formative evaluation and feedback should end the week to clarify the importance of education for nurses before the intervention.
Week 4: There are several questionnaires that have to be offered to nurses in order to evaluate their stress level and readiness to cooperate. The pre-test stage contains three surveys to be sent to every participant: the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale, the SF-12 Questionnaire, and a self-administrated questionnaire. If nurses do not have personal computers or other devices where they can answer these questions in an electronic form, the researcher has to provide them with the same tools in a written format during a face-to-face meeting.
Week 5: It is the first week of a mindfulness meditation program actually begins. There is a special room for nurses to spend two hours three times per week. Participants have an educator who guides their activities and shows how each step must be taken. There has to be a special device for background music. The room is clean, and fresh air reaches it regularly. It is also recommended to turn off cell phones in order to spend enough time to complete a meditation course successfully.
Week 6: During this week, the intervention is combined with formative evaluation and observation. The researcher gathers the first factual data about nurses’ behaviors and reactions to the offered intervention. Nurses, in their turn, spend two hours in a meditation room where they are involved in four different activities: sitting, walking, stretching, and watching. To make their participation comfortable, the room should have an interesting surrounding, including several pictures, calm walls, and clean windows from which it is possible to observe weather changes.
Week 7: More attention has to be paid to formal evaluation this week. Nurses continue participating in a meditation program and spend two hours outside their working place and focusing on their wellbeing. The researcher has to prepare post-test questionnaires and assess behavioral changes among nurses: their readiness to go to work after meditation, their mood before the meditation course, and their common feedback about what is offered to them. Personal observations and direct contact with participants may not be obligatory, but they will help to analyze statistical data during the next weeks.
Week 8: The same way pre-test surveys were sent to participants is used during this week to gather post-intervention information about participants’ wellbeing. Nurses have to continue meditating regularly but also ask the questions in order to evaluate their stress levels. One-to-one conversations are recommended if there is enough time, which creates additional opportunities to understand nurses’ needs, emotions, and attitudes toward the relation between mindfulness meditation, stress, and overall wellbeing.
In general, cooperation with participants is one of the most important steps in this project. During the intervention phase, nurses have to learn the main aspects of wellbeing at work and their responsibility for patient health and personal stability. If a nurse is not able to cope with stress or other negative factors, the quality of care can be challenged. The success of a mindfulness meditation program depends not only on the qualities gained by nursed but also on their knowledge and the abilities to find and exchange information. This intervention plan focuses particularly on the activities for nurses and the outcomes of their participation in a program to improve their wellbeing and reduce stress.