The development of a mindfulness curriculum for nursing education

Abstract

In post-secondary education, nursing students face many challenges and demands in completing their programs. Unfortunately, this leads to high rates of stress and anxiety in students, which negatively impacts health and academic performance (Linden, 2021). This project aims to address the growing mental health concerns the students are experiencing and work towards developing mindfulness lesson plans within the nursing curriculum. There was a 90-minute activity presented to faculty at the College of the Rockies to outline the purpose of the project, relevant literature, and allow participation in one of the seven lessons created, followed by reflection and debriefing opportunities. Data was collected verbally through discussion and written through feedback forms. The findings concluded that the College of the Rockies nursing faculty found the lesson plan beneficial and would utilize it in future Professional Practice classes with nursing students as a means to address stress and anxiety.