Nurses, due to the nature of their profession and their critical role in patient care and treatment, are considered key members of the healthcare system. Accordingly, their professional quality of life (ProQOL) requires special attention (Hamaideh et al., 2024). Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) is defined as the balance of positive and negative aspects of working in helping professions, comprising compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress (Stamm, 2010). In recent years, the professional quality of life among healthcare workers has emerged as a significant subject of scientific inquiry and organizational focus. Enhancing this aspect is now considered a critical factor in ensuring the sustainability of healthcare systems (Saberipour et al., 2015).

Nurses in psychiatric wards settings often experience heightened stress levels due to the advanced knowledge and skills required, the necessity for rapid and appropriate responses to urgent situations, and the substantial responsibilities associated with patient care (Komeili-Sani et al., 2015; Rushton et al., 2015). Working in psychiatric units is especially demanding, as nurses are continually exposed to a range of exhausting and stressful stimuli (Vaghee et al., 2014). Yoshizawa and Yada identified several key stressors in psychiatric wards, including excessive workloads, complex patient needs, ethical dilemmas, and the risk of physical or verbal assault, as well as sexual harassment by patients (Yada et al., 2015; Yoshizawa et al., 2016).

Consequently, over the past few decades, the professional quality of life among nurses has garnered significant attention from researchers and experts (Huang et al., 2020). As a critical determinant of organizational effectiveness, this concept promotes alignment between employees and their institutions, playing a vital role in enhancing job satisfaction, attracting skilled professionals, and improving staff retention within healthcare settings (O'Callaghan et al., 2020). Maila et al. (2020) found that nurses working in psychiatric units experience a notably lower professional quality of life compared to their counterparts in other hospital departments (Maila et al., 2020).

Professional quality of life is influenced by multiple factors, including workplace conditions, personal circumstances, and exposure to both primary and secondary stressors (Gerami Nejad et al., 2019). Ravangard et al. (2018) emphasized that limited participation in organizational decision-making can contribute to increased job stress among nurses (Ravangard et al., 2018), while Raeissi et al. (2019) highlighted the need for targeted strategies to reduce occupational stress in this population (Raeissi et al., 2019). Given the role of stress and organizational dynamics in shaping professional quality of life, cognitive-behavioral management strategies and mindfulness-based approaches have been recommended as effective interventions to enhance nurses' psychological resilience and overall quality of life (Talebi, 2021).

Mindfulness, in particular, plays a pivotal role in strengthening psychological resilience. Defined as nonjudgmental, present-moment awareness characterized by openness, acceptance, and full engagement with current experiences (Pourabadei & Yousefinia, 2020), mindfulness serves as both a mental and spiritual practice. For psychiatric nurses, mindfulness meditation has demonstrated significant benefits for mental health and professional functioning. These benefits include mitigating occupational stress and anxiety (Joshi et al., 2022), enhancing concentration and attentional control, improving self-awareness and emotional regulation, and reducing burnout risk (Brady et al., 2012).

A mindful individual maintains ongoing awareness of their mental states and intentionally directs attention to various cognitive and emotional experiences in the present moment (Fatehi et al., 2021). In a study by Sulosaari et al. (2022), mindfulness-based interventions were found to be effective in reducing the psychological consequences of occupational stress among nurses (Sulosaari et al., 2022). However, in contrast, a study by Ceravolo and Raines (2019) in the United States reported that mindfulness-based interventions did not significantly improve certain occupational aspects among nurse managers (Ceravolo & Raines, 2019).

The present study is guided by the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) model developed by Stamm (2010), which conceptualizes professional quality of life in terms of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. According to this model, occupational demands and stressors can diminish professional quality of life, while effective coping strategies can buffer these negative effects (Stamm, 2010). Mindfulness theory, as articulated by Kabat-Zinn (2003), provides a complementary framework by proposing that cultivating nonjudgmental, present-moment awareness enhances psychological resilience and emotional regulation (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Integrating these perspectives, mindfulness meditation can be understood as an intervention that reduces stress reactivity and fosters adaptive coping, thereby positively influencing the key dimensions of ProQOL.

Although mindfulness-based interventions have been increasingly studied in Western healthcare systems, the evidence base remains limited and inconsistent in non-Western contexts. In particular, few studies have examined mindfulness meditation in relation to the multidimensional construct of ProQOL (compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress) among psychiatric nurses. Most prior research in Iran and other Eastern countries has focused on general stress reduction or overall quality of life, without directly addressing professional quality of life in the context of psychiatric care. This represents a critical gap, as psychiatric nurses in these settings face unique occupational stressors that may not be adequately captured in studies of general nursing populations. By focusing on military psychiatric wards in Tehran, the present study provides novel evidence from a non-Western healthcare system, thereby contributing to the global understanding of mindfulness as a strategy to improve nurses' professional quality of life.

Does participation in a mindfulness meditation program improve compassion satisfaction among psychiatric nurses in military hospitals compared with a control group?

Does mindfulness meditation reduce burnout among psychiatric nurses compared with a control group?

Does mindfulness meditation reduce secondary traumatic stress among psychiatric nurses compared with a control group?