Mindfulness for Doctors, Nurses and Health Professionals

If you are struggling

If you are thinking about suicide or in emotional crisis, call or text 988 in the US, or 911 if in danger. [1] Burnout, depression and trauma in health work are real problems that can need professional care, not only a practice. See meditation for stress and burnout and burnout.

The short answer

Mindfulness courses are widely offered to doctors, nurses and other health workers. Reviews of randomized trials suggest modest benefits for stress, distress and some burnout measures, with results that depend on the job, the program and the comparison group. The newest large review found mindfulness may help nurses and mixed groups but may not help doctors. This page is information only.

What the reviews found

1. Distress and well-being, all health professionals and trainees

   Promising but limited

   A review of 38 randomized trials (2,505 people) found moderate effects on anxiety (g = 0.47), depression (0.41), distress (0.46) and stress (0.52), small to moderate for burnout (0.26) and well-being (0.32), and no significant effect on physical health or performance. Effects were larger against inactive controls. [2]

2. Burnout, all roles (2026 review)

   Mixed

   In 93 randomized and 6 cluster trials (9,330 people), mindfulness may reduce burnout in nurses and midwives and in mixed groups, with low to moderate certainty. For physicians, mindfulness may not be effective, while professional coaching probably reduced some burnout measures. Most trials were unblinded with subjective outcomes. [3]

3. Nurses

   Promising but limited

   A review of 14 trials (1,077 nurses) found mindfulness reduced distress, stress, depression and some burnout dimensions, but evidence was scarce, especially for PTSD. [4]

4. Resilience training in health workers (broader than mindfulness)

   Insufficient evidence

   A Cochrane review of 44 trials found very-low-certainty evidence of small to moderate benefits for resilience, depression and stress, and little or no effect on anxiety or well-being. [5]

5. Medical students and junior doctors

   Insufficient evidence

   A Cochrane review of 10 trials (731 people) found mindfulness did not substantially change anxiety or depression after the program, and the authors said its effectiveness remained unconfirmed. [6]

Reading these results

Most trials cannot be blinded and rely on questionnaires. The 2026 review was funded by Barts Charity. [3] The Cochrane review found most resilience studies had high or unclear risk of bias and few followed people over time. [5] That is why several rows are labeled more cautiously than the headline numbers.

Programs also differ. The 2019 meta-analysis found larger effects for MBSR-style courses than for other formats. [2] Details of that course are on MBSR, MBCT and structured programs.

Individual practice and the workplace

Burnout is shaped by workload and system factors. A 2016 review of physician burnout found that both individual-focused and structural or organizational strategies can produce meaningful reductions. Overall burnout dropped from 54 percent to 44 percent in the pooled studies, which included many designs besides randomized trials. [7] The NHS notes that NICE recommends employers make mindfulness available to all employees to support wellbeing, which is a statement about access, not proof that it fixes burnout. [8]

Choosing and asking

Ask about the instructor's training and experience, as NCCIH suggests. [9] Check how long the program runs, since 8-week courses differ from one-hour workshops. See workplace mindfulness programs and standardizing mindfulness teacher competence.

Related pages

Mindfulness for caregivers and parents, meditation for veterans and first responders, and stress, anxiety, burnout and depression compared.