NCT06432374

Written Exposure Therapy for Nurses

Open Pilot of Written Exposure Therapy for Nurses Experiencing Work-Related Posttraumatic Stress

• Status: Completed
• Phase: EARLY_Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 10 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Nurses often experience elevated levels of stress, overwork, and trauma in the workplace, leading to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, burnout, and even nurse turnover. While effective therapies for PTSD exist, barriers to treatment arise from nursing culture, such as workplace stigma about mental health problems, fear that psychological status may impact performance evaluations, and demands of shiftwork. There is a pressing need for scalable evidence-based interventions tailored to nursing culture to effectively address PTSD and related mental health issues. The study aimed to assess the feasibility, safety, and acceptability of a tailored evidence-based treatment, Written Exposure Therapy (WET), for nurses experiencing work-related traumatic stress. This single-arm open pilot study with pre- and post-intervention assessments, included participants from two nursing schools' alumni. Eligibility criteria included nurses screening positive for work-related trauma with a report of at least two PTSD symptoms. Participants engaged in a self-administered, asynchronous, five-week online writing session, facilitated by WET-trained nurses. Outcomes measures (PTSD, depression, anxiety, burnout, and intention to quit) were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 5-weeks follow-up.

Conditions

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Depressive Symptoms
• Burn Out
• Anxiety
• Work Related Stress

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	WET	The five weekly WET sessions were delivered online via Canvas. Five session modules were created, each containing writing instructions for the respective session and an assignment feature for participants to upload their narratives. All sessions included 30 minutes of writing. Following instructions, participants wrote about a specific work-related trauma event in detail and described the emotions and thoughts experienced during the event. While all sessions were self-paced, participants were advised to complete each subsequent session within one week. Participants had the option to self-administer sessions or participate in Zoom "office hours" for live writing sessions with a facilitator who had completed WET training providing the writing instructions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-02-01
• Primary completion: 2023-03-01
• Completion: 2023-09-01
• First posted: 2024-05-29
• Last updated: 2024-05-29

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States