Effectiveness of mindfulness-based nursing intervention onstress, sleep quality, and emotional well-being among collegestudents: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Background: College life is a psychologically demanding transition characterised by academic overload, examination pressure, financial strain, and, for nursing and allied health students, additional stress arising from clinical placements. These pressures are consistently associated with elevated perceived stress, poor sleep quality, and reduced emotional well-being. Mindfulnessbased nursing interventions, rooted in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) framework, have emerged as a low-cost, scalable strategy that nurses and nurse educators can deliver within academic and clinical settings. This review synthesises quasi-experimental and related intervention evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based nursing interventions in reducing stress, improving sleep quality, and enhancing emotional well-being among college students, with particular attention to nursing student populations. A narrative review approach was used, drawing on quasi-experimental studies, randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses published in nursing, psychology, and public health journals. Studies examining structured mindfulness programmes (typically 6- to 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy protocols) delivered to college or nursing students were prioritised, alongside foundational theoretical and psychometric literature. Across the reviewed literature, mindfulness-based nursing interventions were associated with statistically and clinically meaningful reductions in perceived stress, improvements in subjective sleep quality, and gains in emotional regulation, resilience, and overall psychological well-being. Effects were generally more robust for stress and mindfulness outcomes than for sleep, and benefits often consolidated over follow-up periods of two to six months rather than immediately post-intervention. Nursing students, who face the combined burden of academic and clinical stress, appeared to derive particular benefit from interventions embedded within their curricula. Mindfulness-based nursing interventions represent a promising, feasible, and holistic strategy for supporting the psychological health of college students. Nurse educators and student health services are well positioned to integrate structured mindfulness curricula into academic programming, although further methodologically rigorous, adequately powered trials with longer follow-up are needed to strengthen the evidence base.