Digital Support Intervention on Newly Licensed Nurses

Brief Description of the Study: Text messages will be sent to participants and responses will be surveyed to ascertain if using a social, digital intervention can influence NLNs' (newly licensed nurses') stress, resiliency, perceived sense of social support, and/or the intention to stay at current jobs. Newly licensed nurses (within their first year of hire) will be asked to participate. A series of four text messages will be sent to all study participants (experimental and control groups) by the PI every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday (M, W, F, S) at 1pm for six weeks, for a total of 24 different texts for each group. Participants will fill out surveys before the study begins, at week 3 and at the end of the study (week 6).The control group will receive medical facts. Texts sent to the experimental group will be based on SSBC nurturant support messages and are intended to decrease stress intention to leave (ITL), increase resilience, and perceived sense of support. The SSBC nurturant support texts are comprised of three themes of support: emotional, network, and esteem. The experimental group's supportive text messages were created by the PI and require content validation. A gatekeeper at your facility will be asked to send an email to "Experts" (MSN educators) and ask them to complete the validation survey using a Qualtrics Survey Platform then the PI will place ratings into a table and calculate the results. There are 3 other facilities enrolled in this study: University California, San Diego, El Centro Medical Center, and Pioneer Hospital (all located in southern California).

The purpose of this randomized control study (RCT) is to determine the impact of a 6-week digital support intervention (text messaging) on NLNs' levels of stress, resiliency, perceived social support, and ITL (intention to leave) their current jobs. The long-term objective is to examine if a 6-week digital support intervention impacts NLNs' (newly licensed nurses') ITL during the first year of hire. The central hypothesis is that a digital support intervention plays a critical role in NLNs' levels of stress, resilience, perceived sense of social support, and ITL their current jobs. In order to be included in this proposed study, participants must agree to not use their Smartphones while providing direct patient care but may access text messages while in designated break areas or when off duty.

Research Questions: RQ1: What is the effect of a digital support intervention upon NLNs' stress? RQ2: What is the effect of a digital support intervention upon NLNs' resiliency? RQ3: What is the effect of a digital support intervention upon NLNs' perceived social support? RQ4: What is the effect of a digital support intervention upon NLNs' ITL their first jobs during their first year of hire?

Design (Description of research plan, intervention(s) and time frame): A prospective, RCT design with an experimental and control group is proposed for this study to determine if a digital support intervention impacts NLNs' stress, resiliency, perceived sense of support, and Intention to Leave.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Newly Licensed Nurses,
* ages 19-37 years,
* proficient in English,
* working in an acute care facility as a RN during the first year of hire,
* have a working personal Smartphone,
* have the ability to send and receive text messages,
* have an active and working personal email account, and
* be willing to participate for six weeks,
* complete a demographic survey before the study, survey instruments at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and at the conclusion of the study
* agree to not use or carry their Smartphone while performing direct patient care and
* assume any data charges for text messages, if incurred.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Newly Licensed Nurses who have worked in the role of a RN on another floor or
* NLNs who have worked as an RN at another organization, or
* NLNs not 19-37 years of age.