A six-week group course made emergency nurses more engaged at work for three months

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   122 nurses from the emergency ward of one large hospital in China, 61 in each group. About 8 in 10 were women, and most were aged 26 to 35.

2. 02

   What they did

   One group met once a week for six weeks, 90 minutes each time. They worked on hope, optimism, self-belief and coping with stress. They set goals, challenged unhelpful thoughts, did breathing exercises and had an online chat group. The other group had the usual work training for the same total time.

3. 03

   What happened

   The course group rated themselves as much more engaged at work at the end. This held one month and three months later. The other group stayed about the same. The course group's belief in their own abilities also rose a little and held at three months.

What the study found

1. Helped

   Nurses who had six weekly group sessions on hope and coping felt more engaged at work, still three months later.

   • Action: Do happiness-building exercisestested
   • Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 122 emergency nurses in China · vs nurses who had the usual training for the same time · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable

2. Helped

   The same course gave nurses a smaller rise in belief in their own abilities, which held three months later.

   • Action: Do happiness-building exercisestested
   • Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
   • Rule: Practise with a groupused

   Randomised trial of 122 emergency nurses in China · vs nurses who had the usual training for the same time · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable

Source