There was consistent evidence of a reduction in psychological stress (3/3, 100% of RCTs) and improvement of sleep quality (3/4, 75%) following exercise compared to non-active controls.
This suggests that exercise is an exceptionally reliable "first-line" intervention for the two most common complaints among healthcare workers: which is high stress and poor recovery.
Healthcare professionals are also at increased risk of physical inactivity during leisure time, with research suggests that whilst some healthcare professionals are physically active during work duties, the amount of physical activity and exercise conducted during leisure time is relatively short and below physical activity guidelines for a substantial proportion of healthcare professionals
This indicates that "being on your feet all day" at a hospital is not the same as purposeful exercise, and reinforces the need for structured interventions that happen outside of clinical duties.
Across the general population, poor mental health amongst employees costs UK employers £42–45 billion each year, including absence costs, presenteeism costs and turnover costs (Deloitte, 2020),
This quote provides a powerful "business case" for hospitals and clinics to invest in staff exercise programs, framing them as a cost-saving measure rather than an expense.
Yoga, tai-chi and dance were excluded as these activities may benefit mental health through additional factors distinct from the physical activity itself
By focusing solely on aerobic and resistance training, the review provides a more "clinical" look at how physical movement, independent of mindfulness, impacts the brain.
For example, it can lead to compassion fatigue and the reduced ability to emphasis with patient groups, higher frequency of medical errors and reduced decision making abilities (Hall et al., 2020).
This shows that physical activity programs are a safety intervention, a healthier, more active workforce is statistically less likely to commit medical errors.
There were no significant differences between the three groups before intervention (T0) and one month after intervention (T2), although the mean scores of the aerobic and yoga groups were reduced, compared to the control group.
ince the significant gap between groups disappeared one month after the sessions ended, the researchers imply that physical activity must be a continuous lifestyle habit rather than a one-time "treatment" to keep burnout at bay.
New research has shown that burnout is transmitted from one employee to another; therefore, it harms the workplace atmosphere
This frames exercise and yoga programs as a "public health" measure for the hospital unit—by treating one nurse's burnout, managers may prevent it from spreading to others.
Additionally, it was indicated that yoga affects the parasympathetic nervous system and inhibits gamma-amino-butyric acid; however, aerobic exercise was found to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system
This provides a biological rationale for the results: yoga focuses on "rest and digest" (parasympathetic), which may more directly counteract the "fight or flight" (sympathetic) stress common in clinical settings.
Burnout in nurses was four times greater than that of other professionals (2). Moreover, the prevalence of burnout among female nurses was very high
This underscores that burnout isn't just a general workplace issue but a specific crisis within the nursing profession that requires specialized self-care strategies.
The mean score of emotional exhaustion in the yoga group (23.13 ± 4.13) was reduced compared to the aerobic (36.00 ± 5.65) and control (38.44 ± 10.96) groups.
This suggests that for healthcare workers specifically suffering from the "drained" feeling of emotional exhaustion, yoga may be a more targeted intervention than traditional cardio.