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Implementing mindfulness meditation in hand surgery training: a feasibility study

Background Surgery can be stressful, requiring decision-making and performance under pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has further challenged surgeons’ well-being and training. Excess stress adversely affects well-being, technical and non-technical performance, and, by extension, patient care. Little...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of plastic surgery 2022-12, Vol.45 (6), p.959-966
Main Authors: Cooper, Lilli, Papavasiliou, Theodora, Uppal, Lauren, Bain, Charles
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Background Surgery can be stressful, requiring decision-making and performance under pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has further challenged surgeons’ well-being and training. Excess stress adversely affects well-being, technical and non-technical performance, and, by extension, patient care. Little emphasis has been placed on interventions to improve individual surgeons’ stress resilience despite mindfulness training being robustly linked to resilience, well-being, and improved executive function and performance. This feasibility study aimed to evaluate the effect and acceptability of a mindfulness meditation session on a group of surgical trainees during a hand fracture fixation course. Methods All participants of a single-day hand fracture fixation course were invited to take part in the study, and randomised into two groups. The intervention group experienced a 10-min guided meditation session before their assessment, while the control group did not. Basic demographics, inherent ‘trait’ mindfulness, change in mood, and perceived acceptability were compared between the two groups. Results The 17 participants were demographically similar, as were their self-reported mood scores until after the meditation, where they diverged significantly ( p  
ISSN:1435-0130
0930-343X
1435-0130
DOI:10.1007/s00238-022-01962-1