Mindfulness-based interventions may ease burnout among HCPs

Mindfulness-based interventions are helpful in reducing burnout among nurses and midwives, as well as among a mixture of healthcare professionals (HCPs), but professional coaching appears more beneficial among physicians, especially when done for more than 4 weeks, suggests a study.

A team of investigators searched the databases of PubMed and Scopus through 14 May 2025 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster RCTs of interventions to mitigate burnout among HCPs. They extracted continuous data for burnout outcomes, such as emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization, personal accomplishment (PA), and single-concept burnout measurement.

Overall, 93 RCTs and six cluster RCTs assessing individual-level interventions across 9,330 participants met the eligibility criteria.

Professional coaching appeared more effective among physicians in reducing aspects of burnout (EE: standardized mean difference [SMD], –0.37, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], –0.62 to –0.13; low certainty; depersonalization: SMD, –0.30, 95 percent CI, –0.42 to –0.19; moderate certainty). In contrast, mindfulness-based intervention seemed ineffective (EE: SMD, –0.46, 95 percent CI, –1.28 to 0.35; very low certainty: depersonalization: SMD, –0.09, 95 percent CI, –0.30 to 0.12; moderate certainty).

On the other hand, mindfulness-based intervention proved beneficial in mitigating burnout among nurses and midwives (EE: SMD, –0.90, 95 percent CI, –1.46 to –0.34; low certainty) and among a mixture of HCP roles (EE: SMD, –0.40, 95 percent CI, –0.65 to –0.16; low certainty; depersonalization: SMD, –0.33, 95 percent CI, –0.53 to –0.14; low certainty; PA: SMD, 0.48, 95 percent CI, 0.29–0.67; moderate certainty).

“Mindfulness-based and professional coaching interventions were generally more than 4 weeks in duration,” the investigators said.

The study was limited by the unblinded approach in most trials. In addition, substantial heterogeneity was observed among interventions and populations despite stratifying by role.