52 Focus
Mind yourself Aparna Shukla explains why mindfulness is not a luxury but a necessity for ever busy nurses and midwives
Despite our best efforts, patients are still suffering and unfortunately the healthcare workforce is now joining in the suffering, both physically and mentally. A significant volume of work has already been carried out by our predecessors in terms of scientific and experience-based research on mindfulness. Information about mindfulness practices is more accessible now than ever before, yet our healthcare system does not seem to avail of its benefits. The NHS made the mind- fulness-based stress reduction system available for its patients as far back as 2004. Ireland needs to follow suit and make this available for its healthcare institutions. In my job as an advisor for a health insurance company, I listen to patients talk about their experiences of care in hospitals. I have been facilitating mindfulness work- shops for the INMO since 2014 and I have met many wonderful nurses, PHNs and community nurses who are willing to do whatever they can to help their patients. Many of them have initiated breath work and simple yoga practices for their patients and are seeing the benefits for their recovery. We really can’t expect our exhausted and highly stressed staff to look after patients and fully offer them loving and compassionate care – we cannot give what we do not have. We need to start from the source and begin caring for our nurses and midwives. Mindfulness awakens us to the beauty of each moment and guides us on our way
According to Dr Kabat-Zinn, “mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally”. He further empha- sises that this kind of attention nurtures greater awareness, clarity and acceptance of present reality. There is a pervading myth that for medi- tation to be successful one’s mind needs to be empty of thoughts. We have to accept, however, and acknowledge the fact that our mind is a thinking faculty of the body and thoughts will inevitably arise. We need to learn how to slow down the flow of thoughts and turn down the volume of this inner radio. Mindfulness meditation cultivates con- centration that gives clarity and awakens us to the fact that a lot of the time what our mind is telling us is not real and replete with fiction. Because we become the pris- oner of our own likes and dislikes, we start to feel overwhelmed and stressed. Mind- ful breathing, for example, allows us the space and opportunity to experience peace by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system. How mindfulness can help The western world embraced mind- fulness principles and practices due to Dr Kabat-Zinn’s neuroscientific experi- ments and successful patient outcomes. Dr Kabat-Zinn says: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” This seems like the best advice for nurses and midwives because in our professions, we are always dealing with people in their time of pain and suffering.
For some time we have heard complaints from patients and healthcare professionals that the system is failing to meet public expectations. The focus has often been on outward resources and facilities. There are huge industrial relations issues to be tackled but this article will examine how mindfulness can help nurses and midwives take innovative approaches to self and patient care in a stressful work environ- ment. These approaches include what one might describe as the ‘art and science’ of mindfulness – an opportunity for health- care professionals to turn their attention inward. Many corporate companies such as Google, Apple, Nike, PWC, Fidelity Invest- ments and Orange train their employees in mindfulness because they know that if employees are physically and mentally healthy, they will be more productive, become ill less often and the company will see improvements in staff retention. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness has its roots in the orien- tal meditation systems ‘smarta’ and ‘sati’ , both meaning remembrance and moment- to-moment awareness. Mindfulness was also practised by the Christian mystics or ‘desert fathers’ as a means of stabilising themselves for critical introspection and self-discovery. It was not until 1979 that Dr Jon Kabat- Zinn, professor of medicine and the founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic and Centre of Mindfulness in Medicine at the University of Massachusetts, intro- duced this practice to the western world.
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