Immersive Virtual Reality for the Management of Anxiety Among Nurses

NCT07293221 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: RVI-Nurse
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 56
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The nursing profession is recognized as one of the most demanding in the healthcare sector. Constant exposure to illness, suffering, and death, combined with an increasing workload, leads to fatigue, stress, and especially persistent anxiety. This anxiety affects not only the psychological and physical health of nurses but also the quality of care provided. From an organizational perspective, anxiety promotes absenteeism, demotivation, and turnover, creating a vicious cycle of collective exhaustion. To relieve their anxiety, an increasing number of healthcare providers are turning to complementary medicine, particularly immersive virtual reality (VR) interventions. Immersive VR hypnosis has been used for several years as a non-pharmacological approach to anxiety management. It constitutes a relational experience engaging both physiological and psychological mechanisms, allowing the user to improve their experience and reduce or even eliminate anxiety. Randomized clinical trials conducted in recent years have evaluated the efficacy of immersive VR hypnosis. Some results indicate that it reduces anxiety more significantly than pharmacological treatments in control groups and is at least as effective as other complementary therapies (relaxation, massage, acupuncture, yoga, etc.). However, the strength of these conclusions remains limited due to a substantial risk of methodological bias. Rigorous new studies, with strict control conditions, are required, particularly regarding the efficacy of hypnosis applied to nurses. Since 2024, the investigators have offered hypnotic VR sessions to nurses at the Clinique du Pont de Chaume to better manage their anxiety. Despite the high satisfaction rate reported in our questionnaires, the investigators now aim to statistically evaluate the efficacy of this intervention. Ultimately, these results could justify a broader investment in this type of equipment, making it available to a larger number of healthcare professionals but only if this complementary intervention demonstrates scientific efficacy.

Conditions

Nurse Based Care Management; Anxiety

Keywords

Anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Reduction in the Spielberger questionnaire measurement

  To evaluate the efficacy of hypnotic immersive VR in reducing anxiety among day-shift nurses before and after a coffee break. Anxiety will be measured with the Spielberger anxiety score, measured between the beginning and the end of hypnotic immersive VR or between the beginning and the end of the coffee break or

  From enrollement to the end of study at 1 day

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• The secondary endpoint is the nurses' satisfaction, measured using a Likert scale.

  From enrollement to the end of study at 1 day

Study Arms (2)

Hypnotic Immersive Virtual Reality Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

* On the day of the study, upon arrival in the coffee break room, nurses complete the Spielberger self-assessment anxiety questionnaire. * The anesthesiologist responsible for the protocol (Dr. PEREIRA DE SOUZA) ensures that the nurse has understood the study protocol and answers any questions. * The nurse then begins the hypnotic immersive VR session in a calm, dedicated room. * At the end of the session, before returning to work, the nurse completes the Spielberger questionnaire again, along with a Likert scale to evaluate satisfaction. Any potential adverse effects (nausea, vomiting, etc.) are also recorded.

Other: virtual reality

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

* On the day of the study, upon arrival in the coffee break room, nurses complete the Spielberger questionnaire. * The anesthesiologist (Dr. PEREIRA DE SOUZA) ensures understanding of the protocol and answers questions. * The nurse then takes their coffee break normally with their team. * At the end of the coffee break, before returning to work, the nurse completes the Spielberger questionnaire again, along with the Likert scale.

Interventions

virtual reality OTHER

Since 2024, the investigators have offered hypnotic VR sessions to nurses at the Clinique du Pont de Chaume to better manage their anxiety. Despite the high satisfaction rate reported in our questionnaires, the investigators now aim to statistically evaluate the efficacy of this intervention. Ultimately, these results could justify a broader investment in this type of equipment, making it available to a larger number of healthcare professionals (orderlies, nursing assistants, secretaries, pharmacists, physicians, etc.), but only if this complementary intervention demonstrates scientific efficacy.

Hypnotic Immersive Virtual Reality Group

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Nurses who have received appropriate information, agreed to participate, and signed the informed consent form.
• Nurses working day shifts (06:00-18:00) with a coffee break scheduled from 09:00 to 09:15.

You may not qualify if:

• Nurses who have not provided informed consent or cannot comply with the study protocol.
• History of photosensitive epilepsy or seizures. Unstable vestibular disorders or a severe history of motion sickness preventing the use of immersive VR.
• Employer refusal if participation cannot be organized outside work obligations (participation must remain voluntary and without professional consequences).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• SCP Anesthésie - Réanimation de la Clinique du Pont de Chaume: lead

Related Publications (19)

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  BACKGROUND

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Edmundo P PEREIRA DE SOUZA NETO, Phd

  Clinique du Pont de Chaume - Montauban

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

guilherme P CACHEFO, PhD

CONTACT

0770017259; edmundo.pereira-de-souza@hotmail.fr

Edmundo P Souza Neto, PhD

CONTACT

33+770017259; edmundo.pereira-de-souza@hotmail.fr

Study Design

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

Model Details: nurses will be randomized into two parallel, open-label groups

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 22, 2025
• First Posted: December 19, 2025
• Study Start: January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028
• Last Updated: December 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: At the end of the study
• Access Criteria: All information required by the protocol must be recorded in the electronic patient record. Study Monitoring * Logistics and monitoring: * Managed by the Clinical Research Associate (CRA) in collaboration with the principal investigator. * Includes organizing inclusions, participant follow-up, and protocol compliance control. * Progress reports: * The CRA prepares and submits regular progress reports to the sponsor. * Reports include recruitment, adverse events, and collected data.