Narrative Medicine Effects on Burnout and Stress

NCT07136597 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: IRB00126610
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

A rising area of interest over the past several years has been on the issue of physician burnout. Burnout can be defined as a chronic occupational stress response characterized by multi-dimensional exhaustion and diminished sense of fulfillment in one's personal and professional life. Regarding the effects of emotional, occupational and physical stress on job satisfaction, standard of care and staff retention, it is important to determine meaningful methods to alleviate and prevent burnout among healthcare professionals.

Conditions

Healthcare Professionals

Keywords

stress mitigation; exhaustion; mental health challenges

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS)

  Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey, is a questionnaire used to assess burnout among professionals in human service fields. It measures three core dimensions of burnout: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA). Each dimension is scored based on the responses to a series of questions, using a 7-point scale (0-6) where higher scores generally indicate higher levels of burnout.

  Month 6

Study Arms (1)

narrative medicine workshops

EXPERIMENTAL

participants will be asked to attend 3/6 monthly narrative medicine workshops through the study's duration following an initial workshop that will be used to introduce the concepts of narrative medicine and flash writing

Behavioral: Narrative Medicine Workshop

Interventions

Narrative Medicine Workshop BEHAVIORAL

participants will be asked to attend 3/6 monthly narrative medicine workshops through the study's duration following an initial workshop that will be used to introduce the concepts of narrative medicine and flash writing.

Also known as: narrative medicine based flash-writing

narrative medicine workshops

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Study participants must be current faculty at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (AHWFB) within three departments: internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics

You may not qualify if:

• Faculty who are not currently working at AHWFB may be excluded

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Wake Forest University Health Sciences: lead

Study Sites (1)

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27157, United States

Location

Study Officials

• Cormac O'Donovan, MD

  Wake Forest University Health Sciences

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Kennedy R Combs, MD

CONTACT

828-458-9926; kennedy.combs@wfusm.edu

Cormac O'Donovan, MD

CONTACT

704-355-2000; Cormac.Odonovan@advocatehealth.org

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: narrative medicine based flash writing with burnout levels and stress response using a series of surveys and in-person workshops.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 15, 2025
• First Posted: August 22, 2025
• Study Start (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Last Updated: March 31, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)