Mindfulness-Based Interventions to Implement the Psychological Well-Being of Nursing Students: A Scoping Review

Highlights: What are the main findings? Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are increasingly integrated into nursing education; however, substantial heterogeneity exists in intervention protocols, duration, delivery modes, and facilitator training. The majority of studies focus on reducing psychological distress, whereas outcomes related to positive psychological well-being and core nursing competencies remain underexplored. What are the implications of the main findings? Future research should broaden outcome assessment to include positive indicators of well-being aligned with the relational and humanistic dimensions of nursing practice (e.g., empathy, compassion satisfaction, self-efficacy). The development and curricular integration of theory-informed, population-specific mindfulness and self-compassion protocols may enhance standardization, student engagement, and comparability across studies. Background/Objectives: Mindfulness is a meditative practice that increases levels of awareness and attention. Introducing this practice into the curricula of nursing students could improve the relationship with patients and promote students’ well-being. This scoping review aims to map the literature on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) administered to nursing students to promote their psychological well-being. Methods: The review was conducted according to Peters’ framework. PCC eligibility criteria were used. The PCC mnemonic stands for Population (nursing students), Concept (mindfulness-based interventions applied with positive and negative outcomes for psychological well-being), and Context (undergraduate, pre-licensure). The search was conducted in March 2024 by consulting PubMed, ERIC (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), PsycINFO (Ovid), and ProQuest databases. Additional sources have been identified from Google Scholar. Results: Of the 763 articles that emerged, 55 were included in the scoping review. The interventions depicted are heterogeneous in terms of content and timing. The most investigated outcomes remain stress and anxiety; self-efficacy and empathy emerge as positive indicators of psychological well-being. In the post-COVID period, there is an increase in the online delivery method. Conclusions: In order to provide guidance for practice and institutional policies, future research could focus on a systematic review that identifies the most appropriate MBIs for the well-being of nursing students. In addition, it would be useful to conduct feasibility studies to introduce structured mindfulness-based practices into the nursing degree programmes, with standardized and adaptable pathways tailored to the needs of different academic realities.