Clinical trial NCT04305886: Interprofessional Group Intervention to Promote Faculty Wellbeing and Engagement
Official title: Interprofessional Group Intervention to Promote Faculty Wellbeing and Engagement
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Burnout, Professional
Lead sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-03-12
Enrollment: 25
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: A randomized trial of an interprofessional intervention to reduce burnout and enhance professional engagement in physicians, certified nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners.

Detailed description: To test the hypothesis that an intervention involving self-facilitated interprofessional group meetings would result in improvement in wellbeing and to determine whether use of a written curriculum provided increased benefit, the following study is conducted:

Practicing clinical faculty in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Massachusetts General Hospital were recruited to participate in three monthly small groups over dinner. Participants were randomized to a control group, which met without any specified guidelines for discussion content, or to receive an intervention which consisted of a one-page discussion guide addressing themes relevant to challenges in the healthcare environment: reframing challenging patient interactions; embracing uncertainty in work; and coping with errors, near misses, and bad outcomes. Outcomes included burnout, empowerment and engagement in work, stress from uncertainty assessed using validated metrics, and perception of of collegiality and community.

All participants were also offered the option of participating in evaluation of biomarkers. To test the hypothesis that an increased sense of bonding and relational connection, and reduced stress levels would be reflected by changes in hormone levels during the meeting and over the course of the study. Faculty who opted into this portion of the study gave the following samples:

Urine Oxytocin before and after the first and third group meetings Salivary Oxytocin before and after the first and third group meetings Salivary Cortisol before and after the first and third group meetings Hair Cortisol at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study (a roughly three month interval).

An optional focus group was conducted after the three monthly sessions.

All participants signed a consent form prior to participating in the study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Physican in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital
* Nurse Practitioner in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital
* Certified Nurse Midwife in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

* None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Burnout
timeFrame: Change over the three month study period. Baseline measurement and immediately after final intervention.
measure: Stress from Uncertainty
timeFrame: Change over the three month study period. Baseline measurement and immediately after final intervention.
measure: Work Engagement
timeFrame: Change over the three month study period. Baseline measurement and immediately after final intervention.
measure: Urine oxytocin
timeFrame: Two samples were taken one hour apart at baseline, and this was repeated three months later.
measure: Salivary Oxytocin
timeFrame: Two samples were taken one hour apart at baseline, and this was repeated three months later
measure: Salivary Cortisol
timeFrame: Two samples were taken one hour apart at baseline, and this was repeated three months later
measure: Hair Cortisol
timeFrame: Change over the three month study period. Baseline measurement and immediately after final intervention.
measure: Work Empowerment Scale
timeFrame: Change over the three month study period. Baseline measurement and immediately after final intervention.
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: Massachusetts General Hospital
state: Massachusetts
Study officials:
References: