Efficacy of Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth Intervention for Nurses in Emergency Units (VPTG-RCT)

June 24, 2026 updated by: Seerat Fatima, Fatima Jinnah Women University

Efficacy of Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth Intervention for Nurses in Emergency Units: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth (VPTG) Intervention among nurses working in emergency units. Emergency nurses are frequently exposed to traumatic events through patient care, which may contribute to vicarious trauma and psychological distress. The intervention is designed to facilitate positive psychological growth, resilience, adaptive coping, and psychological well-being while reducing the adverse impact of indirect trauma exposure. Participants will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up periods to determine the effectiveness of the intervention in promoting vicarious post-traumatic growth and reducing vicarious trauma among emergency nurses.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Emergency nurses regularly encounter critically ill, injured, and dying patients, exposing them to repeated indirect traumatic experiences. Such exposure can lead to vicarious trauma, emotional exhaustion, and psychological distress. However, exposure to trauma may also contribute to positive psychological changes referred to as vicarious post-traumatic growth.

This study evaluates the efficacy of a structured Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth Intervention developed specifically for nurses working in emergency units. The intervention integrates psychoeducation, cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, resilience enhancement strategies, emotional regulation skills, stress management techniques, and peer support activities.

A randomized controlled trial design will be employed. Eligible nurses will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. Participants will complete baseline assessments before intervention implementation. Outcome measures will be reassessed immediately after completion of the intervention and during follow-up assessments.

Primary outcomes include reduction in vicarious trauma and enhancement of vicarious post-traumatic growth. Secondary outcomes include resilience, coping strategies, psychological well-being, and occupational functioning. Findings may contribute to the development of evidence-based psychological support programs for nurses working in high-stress healthcare settings.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
      • Multan, Pakistan, 59070
        • Recruiting
        • Nishtar Hospital, Burn Unit (NMH), Multan Institute of Cardiology (MIC), Bakhtawar Amin Hospital, Multan, Khawaja Fareed Social Security Hospital
        • Contact:

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Registered nurses currently employed in emergency departments.
  2. Minimum six months of emergency department work experience.
  3. Able to read and understand English or Urdu.
  4. Willing to provide informed consent.
  5. Available to participate throughout intervention and follow-up assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Current diagnosis of severe psychiatric disorder requiring intensive treatment.
  2. Current participation in trauma-focused psychotherapy.
  3. Cognitive impairment affecting study participation.
  4. Planned transfer from emergency unit during study period.
  5. Refusal to provide informed consent.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth Intervention
Participants receive a structured psychoeducational intervention consisting of trauma education, cognitive behavioral techniques, mindfulness exercises, resilience-building activities, stress management training, emotional regulation skills, and peer support sessions.
Behavioral: Psychoeducational Vicarious Post-Traumatic Growth Intervention
A structured psychoeducational and behavioral intervention designed to promote vicarious post-traumatic growth and reduce vicarious trauma among emergency nurses. The intervention incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques, mindfulness practices, resilience-building exercises, psychoeducation regarding vicarious trauma, stress management strategies, reflective activities, and peer-support components. The program is delivered in scheduled sessions over the intervention period and aims to enhance coping skills, psychological well-being, professional functioning, and post-traumatic growth.
No Intervention: Routine Professional Support
Participants continue receiving routine institutional support and standard professional resources available within the hospital setting.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth Score
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)

This outcome measures change in vicarious posttraumatic growth among emergency unit nurses exposed to the intervention. Vicarious posttraumatic growth will be assessed using the Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (VPTGI; Deaton, 2020), a self-report questionnaire.

The total score will be calculated by summing item responses. Higher scores indicate greater vicarious posttraumatic growth (better psychological outcome).
Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Vicarious Trauma Score
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
This outcome measures vicarious trauma symptoms among emergency nurses. The Vicarious Trauma Scale (VTS; Vrklevski & Franklin, 2008) will be used. The total score is obtained by summing item responses. Higher scores indicate greater vicarious trauma (worse psychological outcome).
Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Change in Resilience Score
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Resilience will be assessed using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), which measures the ability to recover from stress. Scores are calculated as the mean of all items. Higher scores indicate greater resilience (better outcome).
Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Change in Coping Strategies
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Coping strategies will be assessed using the CSI-SF, measuring both adaptive and maladaptive coping styles. Scores will be reported as subscale and total scores. Higher adaptive coping scores indicate better coping outcomes.
Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Change in Psychological Well-being
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Psychological well-being will be assessed using the 18-item Psychological Well-being Scale. Total scores will be computed by summing item responses. Higher scores indicate better psychological well-being.
Baseline (Week 0), Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Personality Traits
Time Frame: Baseline only (Week 0)
Personality traits (Big Five dimensions) will be assessed using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). Scores will be calculated for each trait dimension. This measure will be used as a baseline covariate and moderator, not as an intervention outcome.
Baseline only (Week 0)
Intervention Adherence
Time Frame: Throughout intervention period (Weeks 1-8)

Measured as the percentage of attended intervention sessions (CBT, mindfulness, psychoeducation, peer support).

Reported as percentage (%) of completed sessions per participant.
Throughout intervention period (Weeks 1-8)
Intervention Fidelity
Time Frame: During intervention delivery (Weeks 1-8)

Assessed using a structured fidelity checklist completed by supervisors to ensure protocol adherence.

Reported as percentage of protocol components delivered correctly.
During intervention delivery (Weeks 1-8)
Attrition Rate
Time Frame: Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)
Number and percentage of participants who drop out of the study at each assessment point.
Post-intervention (Week 8), 3-month follow-up (Week 20), 6-month follow-up (Week 32)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Fatima Jinnah Women 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 (Actual)

March 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 18, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 24, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 24, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • VPTGI-RCT-2026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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