Stress, Psychological
Conditions
Brief summary
The goal of this interventional study is to assess the effects of an intervention on stress-related and work-related outcomes among Chinese nursing interns. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does expressive writing reduce clinical practice stress and improve coping strategies in nursing interns? * Does expressive writing increase work engagement and perceived professional benefit among nursing 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 10-15 minutes each time, twice a week, for nine 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.
Interventions
OTHERExpressive 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 10-15 minutes each time, lasting for nine weeks. Writing prompts are developed based on Emotional Processing Theory (EPT) and Cognitive Adaptation Theory (CAT).
OTHERNeutral 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 10-15 minutes each time, lasting for nine weeks.
Sponsors
Changzhi Medical College
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Masking description
This study is single-blinded. The intervention trainer will not be blinded because a single researcher conducts the study. In order to minimize experimenter bias, outcome assessments will be conducted through an online questionnaire survey platform (Wenjuanxing), with the trainer distributing the same link to all participants. During data collection, only acronyms of the questionnaires will be used to avoid self-fulfilling expectations. Participants will be informed during the recruitment phase that the study aims to explore the effect of writing on the internship experience and feelings only. Assignment to the intervention or control group will remain undisclosed to participants until the end of the 4-week follow-up. Participants could unblind themselves by exiting the study and requesting debrief information.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Undergraduate nursing interns with no prior clinical practice experience. * Be willing to fill in questionnaires and write according to the assigned writing prompts. * Have never participated in writing therapy or stress management intervention programs.
Exclusion criteria
* Refuse to participate. * Have severe psychiatric conditions. * Undergoing any form of psychotherapy. * With a habit of keeping diaries. Withdrawal criteria: * Termination of internship for whatever reason. * Do not submit writing materials twice.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mean Change from Baseline in Clinical Practice Stress Scores on the Stress Rating Scale for Nursing Interns in Practice at 9 Weeks, 11 Weeks and 13 Weeks | At baseline, post-intervention at Week 9, 11-week and 13-week follow-ups. | 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. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mean Change from Baseline in Positive and Negative Coping Style Scores on the Brief Coping Style Scale at 9 Weeks, 11 Weeks and 13 Weeks | At baseline, post-intervention at Week 9, 11-week and 13-week follow-ups. | 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. |
| Mean Change from Baseline in Work Engagement Scores on the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale at 9 Weeks, 11 Weeks and 13 Weeks | At baseline, post-intervention at Week 9, 11-week and 13-week follow-ups. | 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. |
| Mean Change from Baseline in Perceived Professional Benefits Scores on the Perceived Professional Benefits Scale at 9 Weeks, 11 Weeks and 13 Weeks | At baseline, post-intervention at Week 9, 11-week and 13-week follow-ups. | The 17-item scale covers 5 dimensions: positive occupational perception, strong nurse-patient relationships, recognition from family and friends, team belonging, and self-growth. 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. |
Countries
China
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORXUAN JI
Changzhi Medical College
Outcome results
None listed