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© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background

Burnout is an occupational syndrome that leads to mental health problems, job turnover, and patient safety events. Those caring for critically ill patients are especially susceptible due to high patient mortality, long hours, and regular encounters with trauma and ethical issues. Interventions to prevent burnout in this population are needed. Preliminary studies suggest debriefing sessions may reduce burnout. This study aims to assess whether participation in regular debriefing can prevent burnout in intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians.

Methods

A randomized controlled trial will be conducted in two large academic medical centers. Two hundred ICU clinicians will be recruited with target enrollment of 100 physicians and 100 non-physicians (nurses, pharmacists, therapists). Participants must have worked in the ICU for the equivalent of at least 1 full time work week in the preceding 4 weeks. Enrolled subjects will be randomized to virtually attend biweekly debriefing sessions facilitated by a psychotherapist for 3 months or to a control arm without sessions. Our debriefs are modeled after Death Cafés, which are informal discussions focusing on death, dying, loss, grief, and illness. These sessions allow for reflection on distressing events and offer community and collaboration among hospital employees outside of work.

The primary outcome is clinician burnout as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) Score. Secondary outcomes include depression and anxiety, as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), respectively. Questionnaires will be administered prior to the intervention, at 1 month, at 3 months, and at 6 months after enrollment. These values will be compared between groups temporally. Qualitative feedback will also be collected and analyzed.

Discussion

With ICU clinician burnout rates exceeding 50%, Death Café debriefing sessions may prove to be an effective tool to avert this debilitating syndrome. With COVID-19 limiting social interactions and overloading ICUs worldwide, the virtual administration of the Death Café for ICU clinicians provides an innovative strategy to potentially mitigate burnout in this vulnerable population.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04347811. Registered on 15 April 2020

Details

Title
Death Cafés for prevention of burnout in intensive care unit employees: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (STOPTHEBURN)
Author
Bateman, Marjorie E. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hammer, Rachel 2 ; Byrne, Abigail 1 ; Ravindran, Nithya 3 ; Chiurco, Jennifer 1 ; Lasky, Sasha 1 ; Denson, Rebecca 1 ; Brown, Margo 1 ; Myers, Leann 4 ; Zu, Yuanhao 4 ; Denson, Joshua L. 5 

 Tulane University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588) 
 Tulane University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588); Tulane University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588) 
 Tulane University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588) 
 Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588) 
 Tulane University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588); Tulane University School of Medicine, Section of Pulmonary Diseases, Critical Care & Environmental Medicine, New Orleans, USA (GRID:grid.265219.b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2217 8588) 
Pages
1019
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Dec 2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
e-ISSN
17456215
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2812326246
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.