Practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM) improved the well-being of clinical nurses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a randomized trial with 104 nurses from three Magnet-designated hospitals, those who received immediate TM instruction showed significant medium to large reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and burnout, and increased flourishing compared to a delayed-instruction control group. The benefits were immediate and cumulative. TM is easy to practice anywhere and may help organizations and individual nurses support clinicians in challenging times.
Clinical nurses who practiced Transcendental Meditation during the COVID-19 pandemic reported that the practice fostered present-moment focus, enhanced self-care, and the development of authentic presence with others. The overarching theme identified was that authentic presence represents truth in knowing, being, doing, and becoming. These findings align with Watson's unitary caring science theory and suggest that Transcendental Meditation is a holistic self-care strategy that supports nurse well-being and may help retain nurses in practice by enabling them to care for themselves and, consequently, for others.