Clinical trial NCT05510414: Evaluation of a Psychological Capital Intervention to Alleviate Burnout and Regulate Immunity Among Oncology Nurses
Official title: Evaluation of a Psychological Capital Intervention to Alleviate Burnout and Regulate Immunity Among Oncology Nurses: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Burnout
Psychological
Keywords: Burnout
oncology nurses
positive psychology capital intervention
immune variables
Lead sponsor: Guangxi Medical University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-08-22
Enrollment: 87
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 55
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The intervention program was taught by experts with at least the title of deputy chief nurse who had been engaged in clinical psychological nursing for a long time. These teachers helped nurses with burnout to develop their own positive psychology, learn optimism, embrace hope, find available support systems and resources, plan their careers. Training took the form mainly of Balint groups, lectures, group discussions, video watching and outdoor development. Personalized counseling was provided to address specific psychological problems in individuals, in a way that ensured personal privacy. The intervention occurred as 12 sessions of 60 min each, twice a month, lasting altogether six months.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Burnout appears to be highly prevalent among oncology nurses, which was a problem not only for the nurses themselves but for the patients for whom they provide care. How to mitigate and prevent burnout and improve nursing performance outcomes is an urgent problem for nursing manager.

In a sample of 99 oncology nurses, immunological characteristics were compared to burnout scores. In a randomized trial, 90 oncology nurses suffering burnout were randomized to receive psychological capital intervention or routine psychological care. Participants were assessed before and after treatment using measures of burnout, psychological capital and immunological characteristics.

Detailed description: Burnout appears to be highly prevalent among oncology nurses, which was a problem not only for the nurses themselves but for the patients for whom they provide care. And burnout-associated biomarkers remain controversial, and their potential roles in burnout are still unclear.

This study was a randomized controlled trial in which the independent variable was group psychological intervention, while the dependent variables were pre- and post-intervention scores on the Maslach burnout inventory and on the psychological capital scale, as well as values for various immunological indicators. In Stage 1 of the study, recruited subjects completed the psychological capital questionnaire and blood was sampled. In Stage 2, the research team administered a custom-designed psychological capital intervention (PCI) to part of the sample, while the other part received routine care . The PCI group received 1 h of counseling twice weekly for a total of 24 weeks in total. In Stage 3, the PCI and control groups completed the questionnaires again and provided blood samples.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Subjects were officially employed and licensed nurses who had been working in the cancer hospital for at least 2 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Subjects had recently suffered personal health problems or significant negative life events, such as the death or serious illness of a family member, or if they were on maternity leave or other types of leave from their nursing job.

Primary outcomes:
measure: scores on Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS)
timeFrame: baseline and 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: scores on Positive psychological capital Questionnaire (PPQ),
timeFrame: baseline and 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Nanning
country: China
facility: Affiliated Tumor of Guangxi University
state: Guangxi
Study officials:
affiliation: Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital
name: Xue-Mei You, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: An M, Shin ES, Choi MY, Lee Y, Hwang YY, Kim M. Positive Psychological Capital Mediates the Association between Burnout and Nursing Performance Outcomes among Hospital Nurses. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Aug 18;17(16):5988. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17165988.
citation: Ciobanu AM, Damian AC, Neagu C. Association between burnout and immunological and endocrine alterations. Rom J Morphol Embryol. 2021 Jan-Mar;62(1):13-18. doi: 10.47162/RJME.62.1.02.
citation: Luo YH, Li H, Plummer V, Cross WM, Lam L, Guo YF, Yin YZ, Zhang JP. An evaluation of a positive psychological intervention to reduce burnout among nurses. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2019 Dec;33(6):186-191. doi: 10.1016/j.apnu.2019.08.004. Epub 2019 Aug 19.