• Meredith Mealer, David Conrad, John Evans, Karen Jooste, Janet Solyntjes, Barbara Rothbaum, and Marc Moss.
• Meredith Mealer is an assistant professor and Marc Moss is a professor in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado. David Conrad is an instructor for JFK Partners, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine. John Evans and Karen Jooste are integrative health coaches at Duke Integrative Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina. Janet Solyntjes is an adjunct professor at Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado. Barbara Rothbaum is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. Meredith.Mealer@ucdenver.edu.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2014 Nov 1;23(6):e97-105.

BackgroundThe critical nursing shortage is particularly apparent in specialty areas such as intensive care units (ICUs). Some nurses develop resilient coping strategies and adapt to stressful work experiences, mitigating the development of common maladaptive psychological symptoms.ObjectivesTo determine if a multimodal resilience training program for ICU nurses was feasible to perform and acceptable to the study participants.MethodsIn a randomized and controlled 12-week intervention study, treatment and control groups completed demographic questions and measures of resilience, anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and burnout syndrome before and after the intervention. The intervention included a 2-day educational workshop, written exposure sessions, event-triggered counseling sessions, mindfulness-based stress reduction exercises, and a protocolized aerobic exercise regimen. Nurses in the intervention arm also completed satisfaction surveys for each component of the intervention.ResultsThis mulitmodal resilience training program was feasible to conduct and acceptable to ICU nurses. Both nurses randomized to the treatment group and nurses randomized to the control group showed a significant decrease in PTSD symptom score after the intervention.ConclusionsA multifaceted resilience training program for ICU nurses was both feasible and acceptable. A sufficiently powered, randomized clinical trial is needed to assess the effect of the intervention on improving individuals' level of resilience and improving psychological outcomes such as symptoms of anxiety, depression, burnout syndrome, and PTSD.©2014 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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