Advancing Research and Clinical Practice Through Close Collaboration (ARCC): A Pilot Test of an Intervention to Improve Evidence-Based Care and Patient Outcomes

March 13, 2008 updated by: State University of New York - Upstate Medical University

The primary aim of this pilot study is to evaluate the effects of two variations of the ARCC Intervention Program on nursing processes and outcomes (job satisfaction, group cohesion, EBP knowledge, EBP implementation, EBP beliefs), patient/family outcomes (e.g. pt/family satisfaction with care), and institutional processes and outcomes (e.g. nurse-physician collaboration, cost, RN turnover, incidence frequency relevant to the topic). Secondary aims are to test the feasibility of study methods and reliability and validity of questionnaires.

This study is designed as a three-group randomized clinical trial with repeated measures. Three inpatient units (medicine, surgery, surgical intensive care) will be randomly assigned to one of three interventions: ARCC enhanced (didactic content presentations, use of an EBP tool kit which will stay on the unit, environmental EBP prompts, availability of an EBP coach on the unit); ARCC standard (all of the above, but without the coach); non-EBP intervention (didactic content and environmental prompts, but not related to EBP; placebo). The interventions will be implemented over an estimated 14 weeks, including a 4-week training period, and an estimated 10 weeks to implement an EBP initiative that the nurses on the two ARCC intervention units will develop.

Baseline information and questionnaires will be collected from nurses at the start of the study, and again at completion of the intervention phase. Outcome data will be collected from nurses approximately 10 weeks after implementation of the ARCC interventions are completed (i.e., 22 weeks after the study is commenced). Nurse-physician collaboration data will be collected from physicians working with study unit nurses as well as from the nurses. Patient satisfaction data will not be separately collected in this study, but will include use of unit-level Press-Ganey scores immediately prior to and over the study time period. Unit level and institutional RN turnover will be tracked monthly during the entire study period and will be compared across units at the same time as well as compared within each study over time (i.e., unit retention during those same months in the previous year). Costs of each EBP intervention will be tracked during the study and compared descriptively. Survey data will be analyzed using analysis of variance statistics. Questionnaires will be tested for reliability and construct validity. Because this is a pilot study, statistically significant differences are not expected, however, effect sizes will be calculated

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

29

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • Syracuse, New York, United States, 13210
        • University Hospital, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Registered Nurse staff working on inpatient study units (medicine, surgery, surgical intensive care)

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • employed by Upstate
  • working full or part time on study unit
  • able to attend all education sessions

Exclusion Criteria:

  • employed by temporary agency
  • not able to attend all education sessions

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
ARCC standard
RNs on unit receiving basic ARCC information with staff nurse champion
Behavioral: ARCC standard information
EBP didactic education sessions, EBP toolkit, environmental prompts, identification of an EBP champion among unit staff RNs
ARCC enhanced
RNs on unit receiving ARCC standard content plus with an EBP mentor
Behavioral: ARCC enhanced
same as ARCC standard plus EBP mentor on-site twice each week plus available by e-mail for consultation
C
RNs on the unit receiving the placebo intervention
Behavioral: Placebo
didactic education sessions on physical assessment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
EBP beliefs
Time Frame: baseline, week 5, week 16, week 24
baseline, week 5, week 16, week 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
EBP Implementation
Time Frame: baseline, week 5, week 16, week 24
baseline, week 5, week 16, week 24

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

State University of New York - Upstate Medical University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Priscilla S Worral, PhD, RN, State University of New York - Upstate Medical University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 7, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 13, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

March 14, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

March 14, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 13, 2008

Last Verified

March 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 5199

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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