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Completed

NCT Number: NCT01959750

Psychological Intervention on Burnout in ICU Caregivers

ICU caregivers face up to a demanding job with a high level of technical skills, a stressful environment, and a heavy work load. They run a high risk of developing burnout that can impact on their welfare, performance, and patient care. Burnout favours absenteeism and staff quitting their jobs, whereas the shortage of ICU caregivers already started. No randomised controlled intervention aimed at reducing such distresses had been run until now.

This study allowed finding a new method of psychological support applicable in the special environment of ICU. Our findings suggest that psychologists specifically assigned to treat ICU caregivers might be beneficial on their burnout.

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Key information

Conditions

Burnout Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Burnout, Psychological Depression Mental Disorders Stress, Psychological

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University Hopitals of Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • all ICU caregivers rrom the University Hospital of Geneva

Exclusion criteria

  • refusals

Treatment and study plan

problem-based sessions

Behavioral

weekly sessions for small groups of caregivers, led by two psychologists acting as moderators and using a systemic approach, as suggested in other peer-support groups using a problem-based method

Primary outcomes

  1. Measurement of the changes in the levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout in nurses and nursing auxiliaries.

    Time frame: At the beginning , at the end and 6 months after the end of the intervention.

    Anxiety (HA) and depression (HD) were identified by the validated French version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), which is composed of 14 items, self-rated using a 4-point Likert scale (0 to 3). The sub-scale scores of anxiety and depression range respectively from 0 to 7 (no distress), 8 to 10 (borderline), 11 to 15 (significant) and 16 to 21 (severe distress).

    Burnout was evaluated using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) in its Fontaine French version; it is composed of 22 questions on a 7-point Likert scale (0 to 6). This tool measures the 3 dimensions of burnout independently: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment. Scores of ≥ 27, ≥ 10, or ≤33 respectively for the 3 dimensions, can be a sign of burnout. A severe burnout can also be defined as the cumulated score of MBI of > -9.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Composite measurement of the changes of ICU activity and absenteeism before, during, just after and six months after the intervention.

    Time frame: 4 three-months time periods (cf. Description).

    ICU activities and absenteeism were analysed during 4 three-month time periods, i.e. 3 months before [Before] (January to March 2009), 3 months during [During] (randomly picked out as September and November 2009, and January 2010), 3 months following the end of the intervention [After] (April to June 2010) and from 7 to 10 months after intervention [At 6 months] (November, December 2010 and January 2011). Absenteeism was defined as the number of caregivers absent at least once per time period, independently of the duration of the absence.

Other outcomes

  1. Measurement of staff quitting their jobs

    Time frame: At the end of the intervention

    We identified how many persons had quitted the ICU between the beginning and the end of the intervention (inclusion time).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Geneva

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Psychological Intervention on Burnout in ICU Caregivers: a Randomised Controlled Study

Important dates

Study start
2009
Primary completion
2009
Study completion
2013
First posted
Oct 10, 2013
Registry last updated
Oct 10, 2013

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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