Are Personal Smartphones Hurting Work-Life Balance for Nurse Managers?

For leadership positions with only a handful of staff under their direct chain of command, this may not be all-consuming and detrimental to work-life balance. But for NMs with upwards of 100 direct reports, this can make for a never-ending stream of contact points. This study will implement several communication and behavioral strategies to determine how using provided smartphone tools impact work-life balance and professional burnout.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Burnout
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Study will conducted over a six-month period using a quasi-experimental Pre-test/Post-test design using Stamm's (2009) ProQOL Scale.

Detailed Description

The study will be conducted over a six-month period using a quasi-experimental Pre-test/Post-test design using Stamm's (2009) ProQOL Scale. This study is being done as a pilot study with a small sample size. NMs will be recruited as volunteers for participation in the study with an anticipated six-month time commitment. Upon receipt of informed consent, participants will be divided into two groups. Group 1 will receive a list of suggested tools used to decrease the amount of smartphone interruptions after business hours (Appendix B) and Group 2 will receive a work-issued smartphone with instructions for use (Appendix C). Both groups will use a pre-post test format designed to compare the outcomes between the two groups. Post-study analysis will compare pre- and post-tests within each group and will compare Group 1 and Group 2 post-intervention outcomes.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 6

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Mansfield, Texas, United States, 76063
      • Methodist Mansfield Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

• Participant must hold the title of Nurse Manager or Interim Nurse Manager at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
• Participant must have greater than 50 direct reports

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participant must hold the title of Nurse Manager or Interim Nurse Manager at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
• Participant must have greater than 50 direct reports

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participant expects to separate employment with Methodist Health System prior to the conclusion of the study
• Participant does not use their personal smartphone to communicate with direct reports

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Group 1; Must hold the title of Nurse Manager or Interim Nurse Manager at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. Upon receipt of informed consent, participants will be divided into two groups. Group 1 will receive a list of suggested tools used to decrease the amount of smartphone interruptions after business hours	Other: Study will conducted over a six-month period using a quasi-experimental Pre-test/Post-test design using Stamm's (2009) ProQOL Scale.; Group 1 will receive a list of suggested tools used to decrease the amount of smartphone interruptions after business hours (Appendix B) and Group 2 will receive a work-issued smartphone with instructions for use (Appendix C). Both groups will use a pre-post test format designed to compare the outcomes between the two groups. Post-study analysis will compare pre- and post-tests within each group and will compare Group 1 and Group 2 post-intervention outcomes.
Group 2; Must hold the title of Nurse Manager or Interim Nurse Manager at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. Upon receipt of informed consent, participants will be divided into two groups. Group 2 will receive a work-issued smartphone with instructions for use (Appendix C).	Other: Study will conducted over a six-month period using a quasi-experimental Pre-test/Post-test design using Stamm's (2009) ProQOL Scale.; Group 1 will receive a list of suggested tools used to decrease the amount of smartphone interruptions after business hours (Appendix B) and Group 2 will receive a work-issued smartphone with instructions for use (Appendix C). Both groups will use a pre-post test format designed to compare the outcomes between the two groups. Post-study analysis will compare pre- and post-tests within each group and will compare Group 1 and Group 2 post-intervention outcomes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
• Impact of smartphone tool utilization will be measured using a pre-study survey and post-study survey using the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) Scale (Stamm, 2009).	• Impact of smartphone tool utilization will be measured using a pre-study survey and post-study survey using the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) Scale (Stamm, 2009).	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
• Participants in Group 1 will self-report on the post-study survey (Appendix D1) the number of tools implemented during the study duration.	• Participants in Group 1 will self-report on the post-study survey (Appendix D1) the number of tools implemented during the study duration.	6 months
• Participants in Group 1 will self-report on the post-study survey (Appendix D1) the frequency of tool utilization during the study duration using a Likert scale.	• Participants in Group 1 will self-report on the post-study survey (Appendix D1) the frequency of tool utilization during the study duration using a Likert scale.	6 months
• Participants in Group 2 will self-report on the post-study survey (Appendix D2) using the ProQOL Scale.	• Participants in Group 2 will self-report on the post-study survey (Appendix D2) using the ProQOL Scale.	6 months
• Responses to the post-study survey from participants in Group 2 will be compared to participants in Group 1 to determine if utilizing a separate work smartphone during business hours has a greater improvement on work-life balance and burnout.	• Responses to the post-study survey from participants in Group 2 will be compared to participants in Group 1 to determine if utilizing a separate work smartphone during business hours has a greater improvement on work-life balance and burnout.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Methodist Health System
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Brooks Williams, DNP, Methodist Health System

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 6, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): May 6, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 27, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): April 2, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 23, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 19, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Stress, Psychological; Behavior; Burnout, Psychological
• Other Study ID Numbers: 023.NUR.2021.M

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No