Laughter Therapy and Mindfulness Practices

Summary

Nurses working by shifts under intense stress and pressure and using complicated technological products- undergo fatigue and attention deficit with the effect of the many negative factors caused by work setting. This threatens patient and staff safety as well as leads to communicational problems, work absenteeism, lowered motivation, inability to control stress and poor work performance and productivity among nurses as well. In this sense; laughter therapy and mindfulness practices may help nurses cope with these problems because some experimental studies proved that both methods showed many benefits in different samples. However; no studies in which these two methods were compared among nurses were encountered. Therefore; the study -being in experimental design and randomized controlled trial- will be undertaken with a total of 111 nurses employed at a university hospital -37 nurses allocated to the experimental 1 group, 37 nurses to the experimental 2 group and 37 nurses to the control group-. First; Computer-Based Sustained Attention Test, the Stroop Test Çapa Version, The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ) and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire will be administered to the nurses of the experimental and control groups as a pre-test. Then; nurses of the experimental 1 group will join sessions of laughter therapy (30-45 minutes twice a week for 8 weeks) and nurses of the experimental 2 group will join sessions of mindfulness practices (45-60 minutes twice a week for 8 weeks) for two months. One month later when the sessions are started, a mid test will be administered and soon after the sessions are completed a post test will be administered to the nurses via Computer-Based Sustained Attention Test, the Stroop Test Çapa Version, The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ) and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire. One month later after the post test; a follow-up will be performed using the same tools. As a result; the effects of both applications on fatigue, attention and performance will be investigated.

Conditions

• Nurse's Role

Interventions

OTHER

experimental group 1

Laughter therapy, also called therapeutic laughter, is used to relieve pain and stress and to promote a general sense of well-being. Laughter therapy is simply a method of 'laughing for no reason' in which the person interacts in a group setting with improvisation or pantomime-like exercises and childish games without humour, jokes or funny events. The aim is thus to benefit from laughter.

OTHER

experimantal group 2

Mindfulness is purposefully drawing attention in the desired direction so that we can stay in the present moment without judgment. It is also defined as a conscious understanding of what is happening in the moment we live in with an open and loving attitude. According to another definition, mindfulness includes paying attention to what is happening in the present moment, noticing the quality of this attention, and accepting what is noticed without judgment. With conscious awareness, the individual discovers how to live in harmony with all the events that take place in the present moment, place and time, without any evaluation, rather than the sorrows and regrets of the past, the anxieties and worries of the future. Mindfulness helps us to relate to our experiences by enabling us to see the positive-negative, good-bad experiences we have had objectively.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

  collaborator OTHER

• Nagihan Koroglu Kaba

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-09-06

Primary Completion

2022-04-20

Completion

2022-10-20

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations