Expressive Writing on Stress and Work-Related Outcomes Among Student Nurse Interns

Stress, Psychological Clinical Trial

Official title:

Effects of Expressive Writing on Stress and Work-Related Outcomes Among Student Nurse Interns: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06238141
• Other study ID #: RT2023047
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 2024
• Est. completion date: December 2024

Study information

• Verified date: January 2024
• Source: Changzhi Medical College
• Contact: XUAN JI
• Phone: + 86 17835856131
• Email: jixuan0101[@]163.com
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this interventional study is to assess the effects of an intervention on stress and work-related outcomes among Chinese student nurse interns. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does expressive writing reduce clinical practice stress and improve coping strategies in student nurse interns?

• Does expressive writing increase work engagement and perceived professional benefit among student nurse interns?

Participants in the intervention group and control group will perform expressive writing and neutral writing, respectively, based on different given instructions. In both groups, writing will last for 15 minutes each time, twice a week, for ten weeks.

Researchers will compare the outcomes of the two groups to see if there are differences between clinical practice stress, coping strategies, work engagement, and perceived professional benefit.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 74
• Est. completion date: December 2024
• Est. primary completion date: December 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Undergraduate student nurse interns in their first clinical internship (had no prior clinical practice experience)

• Have access to and proficiency in utilizing social media

• Be able to read and write via the internet

• Be willing to fill in questionnaires and write according to the assigned writing prompts

• Never participated in expressive writing or stress management intervention programs

Exclusion Criteria:

• Intern at a self-contacted hospital

• Severe current psychological conditions

• Undergoing any form of psychotherapy

• With a habit of keeping diaries

Withdrawal criteria:

• Termination of internship for whatever reason

• Not submit writing materials twice

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Stress, Psychological

Intervention

Other:
• Expressive writing
According to the writing prompts, online expressive writing focuses on stressful events and will be conducted twice a week (every Monday and Thursday) for 15 minutes each time, lasting for ten weeks. Writing prompts are developed based on Emotional Processing Theory (EPT) and Cognitive Adaptation Theory (CAT).
• Neutral writing
According to the writing prompts, online neutral writing focuses on immediate surroundings and will be conducted twice a week (every Monday and Thursday) for 15 minutes each time, lasting for ten weeks.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Changzhi Medical College

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Mean Change from Baseline in Clinical Practice Stress Scores on the Stress Rating Scale for Nursing Students in Practice at 10 Weeks, 14 Weeks and 18 Weeks	The scale consists of 6 dimensions and 37 entries, including the nature of work, workload, preparation for an internship, interpersonal relationships, work support, and learning and work impulse. The scale rates on a 4-point Likert scale, with no stress, mild stress, moderate stress, and severe stress, assigned a score of 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and the higher the score, the greater the stress.	At baseline, post-intervention at Week 10, 14-week, 18-week and 22-week follow-up.
Secondary	Mean Change from Baseline in Positive and Negative Coping Style Scores on the Brief Coping Style Scale at 10 Weeks, 14 Weeks and 18 Weeks	The scale consists of two dimensions, positive and negative coping, with 20 entries. A 4-point Likert scale is used, with 1-4 indicating "not used" to "often used". Positive coping has 12 entries, and negative coping has 8 entries, with higher scores indicating more frequent use of coping strategies.	At baseline, post-intervention at Week 10, 14-week, 18-week and 22-week follow-up.
Secondary	Mean Change from Baseline in Work Engagement Scores on the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale at 10 Weeks, 14 Weeks and 18 Weeks	The scale consists of 3 dimensions: vitality, dedication, and concentration, comprising 15 entries. A 7-point Likert scale is used, with scores ranging from 0-6 for "never," "almost never," "rarely," "sometimes," "often," "frequently," and "always." The total score is the sum of the scores of each entry. An average entry score of 4 or more is defined as a high level of work engagement, 2-4 as a moderate level, and less than 2 as a low level of work engagement.	At baseline, post-intervention at Week 10, 14-week, 18-week and 22-week follow-up.
Secondary	Mean Change from Baseline in Perceived Professional Benefits Scores on the Perceived Professional Benefits Scale at 10 Weeks, 14 Weeks and 18 Weeks	The scale consists of 7 items of positive career sense, 6 items of good nurse-patient relationship, 6 items of sense of belonging to the team, 8 items of self-growth, and 6 items of identification with friends and relatives, totaling 33 items in 5 dimensions, and each item is scored 1 to 5 on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree. The higher the score, the stronger the perceived professional benefit.	At baseline, post-intervention at Week 10, 14-week, 18-week and 22-week follow-up.