Laughter Yoga for Burnout and Spiritual Well-Being in Intensive Care Nurses: A Randomized Controlled Trial

AbstractPurpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses experience high occupational stress, increasing the risk of burnout and potentially affecting spiritual well-being. Laughter yoga has been suggested as a complementary mind–body intervention to enhance psychological resilience. This study evaluated its effects on burnout and spiritual well-being among ICU nurses.Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 70 ICU nurses were assigned to a laughter yoga group (n = 34) or a control group (n = 36). The intervention group participated in eight structured laughter yoga sessions. Data were collected at baseline and post-intervention using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, t-tests, and correlation analysis.Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between the intervention and control groups in total burnout or overall spiritual well-being scores (p > 0.05). A significant decrease was found in the self-efficacy subdimension within the intervention group (p < 0.05). In addition, participation in laughter yoga was negatively correlated with changes in depersonalization (r = -0.252, p = 0.035).Conclusion: Laughter yoga did not produce significant improvements in overall burnout and spiritual well-being levels among intensive care nurses. Although a negative correlation with depersonalization was observed, the overall findings indicate limited effects. Therefore, laughter yoga may be considered a supportive complementary approach rather than a definitive intervention.