School of Nursing, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
School of Public Health, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2024 Oct;45(10):1034-1045. doi: 10.1080/01612840.2024.2385571. Epub 2024 Aug 22.
A significant proportion of frontline nurses developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as a result of working during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a mindfulness- and acceptance-based smartphone app intervention among nurses traumatized by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a two-arm, randomized controlled trial. We randomly assigned 60 frontline nurses working in various clinical settings in the United States during the pandemic to either the intervention group (i.e. participants used the mindfulness app for 6 wk) or the wait-list control group. We assessed the app's efficacy through outcome measures of PTSD symptom severity, experiential avoidance, rumination, mindfulness, and resilience, measured at pre-, mid-, and post-intervention periods and a 1-month follow-up. Intervention satisfaction and perceived usability of the app were assessed within the intervention group. There was strong evidence of within-between interaction for PTSD, experiential avoidance, and rumination, implying significant improvement of these outcomes for the intervention group as compared to the control group. We only found a within-group interaction effect for mindfulness, indicating significant improvement of mindfulness within the intervention group only. Participants in the intervention group reported high satisfaction levels and perceived usability with the app. Findings highlight that mindfulness- and acceptance-based smartphone apps can improve PTSD symptoms of nurses traumatized by the pandemic. Healthcare organizations should provide nurses with accessible interventions (e.g. mindfulness apps) to treat and prevent secondary behavioral consequences of the pandemic, such as PTSD.
相当比例的一线护士在新冠疫情期间工作后出现创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状。本研究旨在确定正念和接纳为基础的智能手机应用程序干预对新冠疫情创伤护士的疗效。这是一项双臂、随机对照试验。我们随机将在美国疫情期间在不同临床环境工作的 60 名一线护士分配到干预组（即参与者使用正念应用程序 6 周）或候补对照组。我们通过 PTSD 症状严重程度、体验回避、反刍、正念和适应力的结果衡量标准评估应用程序的疗效，在干预前、中、后期和 1 个月随访时进行测量。在干预组中评估了干预满意度和应用程序的可感知可用性。PTSD、体验回避和反刍的组内-组间交互有很强的证据，这意味着与对照组相比，干预组这些结果有显著改善。我们只发现了正念的组内交互效应，这表明仅在干预组中正念有显著改善。干预组的参与者报告了高水平的满意度和对应用程序的可感知可用性。研究结果表明，正念和接纳为基础的智能手机应用程序可以改善受疫情创伤护士的 PTSD 症状。医疗保健组织应向护士提供可及的干预措施（如正念应用程序），以治疗和预防疫情带来的继发性行为后果，如 PTSD。
