Mindfulness cultivates attentiveness

Mental healthcare nurses shared their experiences of how mindfulness enabled them to be attentive to the needs and personhood of patients in their care.

Dr Rudo Ramalisa completed a doctoral study to develop a model to cultivate attentiveness through mindfulness.

Keeping the idea of habitus in mind, she followed a grounded theory approach in which she had in-depth conversations with eleven mental healthcare nurses who as part of their daily nursing care routine are practitioners and facilitators of mindfulness.

She learned from them that engaging in various mindfulness practices leads to an increased self-awareness which in turn increases the nurses’ attentiveness to the needs of the patient.

Furthermore, the nurses also embody attitudes that cultivate their attentiveness which includes active listening and response, demonstrating compassion, and observing, with a non-judgmental attitude to situations or patients.

Mindfulness enables them to be attentive to the holistic needs of the patients. Attentiveness is characterised by an openness on the part of the nurse that requires them to have no pre-established agenda, resulting in spontaneous and individualised care, allowing and acknowledging that the experience of the patient emerges different from the understanding of the nurse.

Attentiveness enables the nurse and the patient to be aware of a connection between them, and to build trusting relationships. This trust relationship results in transformation in both the nurse and the patient.

Based on these findings, Rudo developed a beautiful model to cultivate attentiveness

through mindfulness.

Rudo has presented this model to several audiences, including nurses and academics. She is also writing a series of articles based on her study.

To learn more, contact Rudo at presence4goodcare@gmail.com.