13 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this study is to develop a technology to predict burnout in RNs by measuring workplace, psychological, and physiological factors experienced by nurses.
Healthcare systems around the world have faced tremendous stress because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) (ie. physicians, nurses, and support staff), who serve as the foundation of the healthcare system, report high levels of psychological stress and burnout, which will likely worsen as the pandemic continues. The consequences of stress and burnout can reduce quality of life for providers and lead to adverse health behaviors (poor dietary choices, reduced physical activity, increased alcohol intake, increases in weight etc.) among HCWs. In addition, burnout can have dire consequences on healthcare delivery effectiveness including poor quality of care and significant cost implications due to medical errors and HCW absenteeism and turnover. In fact, annual estimates of burn-out related turnover range from $7,600 per physician to \>$16,000 per nurse. However, programs focused on reducing burnout in HCWs have the potential to reduce costs to the healthcare system by $5,000 per HCW per year. Maintaining and recovering psychological and behavioral well-being is essential to ensuring we have a workforce that is resilient to acute and ongoing stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that they are capable of providing the highest level of quality and compassionate care to patients. In this project, we will strengthen the resiliency of the Northwestern Medicine (NM) healthcare system by implementing an online psychological well-being intervention (PARK). We will assess HCW willingness to engage in PARK, which has been shown in other populations experiencing stress (e.g. dementia caregivers, general public coping with COVID-19) to be effective. We will also assess if the PARK is effective in reducing stress and associated-burnout, absenteeism, and intentions to leave the workforce in a subset of 750 persons who have been participating in a study of HCWs at NM since Spring 2020. In the entire cohort, we will measure the psychological well-being, levels of burnout, health behaviors, absenteeism, and plans to leave the workforce at three time periods: the start, middle, and end of the study period and assess whether they differ by HCW characteristics including gender, race, and role in health care. Results from this study will provide much-needed information: 1) about the current state of psychological well-being and burnout among NM HCWs, now over 1 ½ years into the pandemic; 2) on the role of an online wellness intervention to improve well-being during a protracted pandemic; and 3) about the contribution of PARK to reduce burnout, HCW absenteeism and turnover, and potential impacts on costs. PARK has the potential to have a significant impact on not only NM HCWs but also to be generalizable to other healthcare organizations for addressing burnout and to contribute to lessons learned on how to support HCWs responding to future pandemics; ensuring resiliency in the healthcare delivery system. In addition, we will work with our already engaged stakeholder committee to ensure results can provide actionable policy and fiscal insights. Future opportunities will include collaboration with other healthcare systems to expand roll-out of the successful PARK intervention.
This clinical trial evaluates the effect of life coaching together with Alpha-Stim AID® (Anxiety, Insomnia, Depression), also known as Alpha-Stim®, as an intervention to decrease self-reported symptoms of burnout, moral distress, resilience, and employee retention in oncology healthcare workers. Burnout and moral distress are occupational hazards for oncology healthcare workers. Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment at work are symptoms of burnout. Moral distress may be defined as knowing the right thing to do but being unable to do so based upon internal or external constraints. Alpha-Stim® is a device attached to the earlobes that uses cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) at a microcurrent to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, pain, and possibly depression. Life coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential and can increase resiliency skills such as boundary setting and prioritizing, increases in self-compassion and self-care, and potentially indirectly positively impact patient care. Undergoing the use of CES via the Alpha-Stim®, coupled with life coaching, may help alleviate burnout symptoms and moral distress in oncology healthcare workers.
This is a pilot randomized waitlist control trial assessing if the feasibility of using a mobile mindfulness app to treat emotional distress and burnout amongst nurses taking care of COVID-19 patients. This trial will help inform the study team if dissemination the intervention to a large number of nurses in a short time period is feasible, and if the intervention has evidence of a clinical impact.
The purpose of this study is to test an intervention focused towards promoting mindfulness among VA physicians and nurses. Mindfulness is a tool that can help people focus. It helps clear the mind of distractions and biases. Some physicians and nurses will be randomized to receive the study intervention, while others will not. The study intervention will include the following: 1) education about mindfulness; 2) group discussions about mindfulness; and 3) an optional mobile app to promote mindfulness. Participants randomized to the intervention will be encouraged to use the act of cleansing their hands as a prompt for practicing mindfulness. The study will test if this intervention will increase physician and nurse mindfulness. It will also test if it leads to improved well-being and use of proper hand hygiene.
Reliably achieving peak performance requires balancing the strain of the prior day with sufficient recovery to be ready for the next day. Surgery has a long standing tradition long hours of hard work often at the expense of adequate sleep. Decreased sleep and recovery has physiologic consequences which can be measured using biometric data. The goal of this study is to quantify surgeon performance and biometric data to understand how modifiable behaviors including mindfulness training and diet can maximize recovery and performance. The goal of this study is to quantify the impact if modifiable daily behaviors including sleep, nutrition, in order to understand the factors that contribute to high level performance, burnout, and physician wellbeing in surgical trainees and attendings.
Rationale: Healthcare workers that care for patients with COVID-19 are at increased risk for stress-related symptoms. When these symptoms are chronic, they can result in burnout and other mental health conditions that can exacerbate the current national health crisis. Social distancing can limit the accessibility of mental health services. Feasible and effective interventions are needed to reduce stress-related symptoms and promote resilience in this population, while adhering to federal and local guidelines to mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Objectives: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a combined nature-based and virtual mindfulness intervention on stress-related symptoms and psychological resilience in healthcare workers that care for patients with COVID-19. Both components are reported to reduce levels of perceived stress and increase psychological resilience; however, the potential additive effect of their combined delivery is unknown. Methods: Ninety healthcare workers will be randomized into one of three groups: Nature+Mindfulness (n=30), Nature only (n=30), and Control (n=30). All participants will undergo assessments at baseline (week 0), post nature intervention (\~week 1), and post mindfulness intervention (\~week 3). The two intervention groups will have one final assessment at 2-month follow-up (\~week 11). Perceived stress is the primary endpoint and will be assessed with the Perceived Stress Scale. Secondary endpoints include sleep quality, burnout, posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, self-efficacy, and psycho-social-spiritual healing. Anticipated Results: We anticipate that participants in the Nature+Mindfulness group will have greater reductions in stress-related symptoms and greater increases in psychological resilience compared with the Nature only and Control groups.
Burnout affects a significant number of healthcare employees and leads to worsened mental health, increased job turnover, and patient safety events. Those caring for critically ill patients may be especially susceptible due to high patient mortality, long hours, and regular encounters with traumatic and ethical issues. Preliminary studies suggest that debriefing opportunities may reduce burnout through reflection on distressing patient events, enhancement of social support, and interprofessional collaboration. Death Cafés are a specific form of debriefing that focus on discussing death, dying, loss, and illness. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether biweekly Death Cafe group debriefing sessions can prevent burnout in ICU physicians and staff.
Burnout and job dissatisfaction among clinicians are one of the greatest challenges facing healthcare today. Clinicians report feeling less engaged in their work and are leaving their fields in large numbers which reflects increasing stress from the pandemic coupled with increased administrative and regulatory demands and a decreased sense of autonomy. To attenuate these factors the current study will enact a series of interventions that would decrease mental distress, increase self-efficacy, and attenuate inefficiencies in their work environment to achieve sustainable improvement. The investigators will offer psychological training using techniques that have been shown to impact individual's mental health that target feelings of demoralization, depression and anxiety that result from chronic stress. Additionally, the investigators will offer individualized training on optimization of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) to help clinicians from different fields and settings reduce their time and effort needed for documentation. The investigators will also engage clinicians in systemic redesign to empower clinician-directed changes to the health system environment. The investigators anticipate that each intervention will positively affect emotional wellbeing, skills mastery of the Electronic Health Record (EHR), and environmental dissatisfaction to reduce overall burnout.
This is a prospective parallel non-blinded randomized study with two arms, an intervention group and an active control group. Sixty healthy, but stressed nurses will be randomly assigned to either participate in a 6-week internet-based mindfulness meditation program produced by the Cleveland Clinic called Stress Free Now for Healers or to listen to relaxing music for at least 5 minutes a day for 6 weeks, and pre-post comparisons will be made for RNA expression profiles, plasma cytokine concentrations, telomerase activity, 6-point salivary cortisol and several self-reported assessments of physical and mental health.
Study to support the mental and physical well-being of US health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure high-quality care for patients through Stress First Aid.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect that uninstalling work email applications from mobile devices during leisure time has on health care worker stress levels.
Health care workers (HCW) face distressing work related situations that pose a threat to the HCW's resilience and well-being. Hospital-based peer support programs can improve HCW well-being, but there are few programs and little data for settings outside of hospitals. The program would adapt, implement, and evaluate an evidence-informed peer support program (RISE) in ambulatory practices, rural hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), and community based organizations (CBOs). The hypothesis is that the availability of peer support will improve the culture of well-being, and the resilience and well-being of HCW in participating organizations. The research has the potential to improve the quality of life of HCW and the quality of care available to diverse organizations and the populations the HCW serve.