Basic Trauma Training Programme for Newly Graduated Nurses in Saudi Trauma Centres (BTTS)

August 7, 2026 updated by: ALANAZI ABDULAZIZ SULTAN L, Lincoln University College

Evaluating the Basic Trauma Training (BTT) Programme on Workforce Sustainability Among Newly Graduated Nurses in Saudi Level One Trauma Centres: Protocol for a Two-Site, Non-Equivalent Comparison-Group Quasi-Experimental Study

New nurses often find it difficult to adjust when they start working in fast-paced, high-pressure trauma units, and many leave their jobs within the first two years. This study looks at whether a two-day training programme, called Basic Trauma Training (BTT), helps newly graduated nurses in Saudi trauma hospitals feel more confident, satisfied and engaged in their work, and more likely to stay in the nursing profession.

The study takes place at two trauma hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Because it is not practical to randomly assign nurses to groups in this real-world hospital setting, the study compares an earlier group of new nurses, who receive standard hospital orientation only, with a later group, who receive standard orientation plus the two-day BTT training. Both groups complete questionnaires before and after their orientation or training period, answering questions about job satisfaction, engagement, stress and their plans to stay in the role. The study also looks at actual staff retention using hospital employment records at 6 and 12 months. Nurses in the comparison group are offered the BTT training later, once their part of the study is complete, so that everyone has the chance to take part in the training.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a two-site, non-equivalent comparison-group quasi-experimental study using a pre-test/post-test design. Allocation is non-random and determined by intake cohort within each participating site: an earlier intake of eligible newly graduated nurses forms the comparator group, and a subsequent intake forms the intervention group, so that study arm is not confounded with site.

The intervention, Basic Trauma Training (BTT), is a structured two-day (14 contact-hour) educational programme developed in alignment with Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) Specialised Professional Programme accreditation standards. It comprises five modules: trauma systems and primary survey principles; advanced trauma assessment and clinical reasoning; critical trauma interventions and patient safety; interprofessional communication and team leadership; and psychological preparedness, peer support and self-care. Delivery combines didactic teaching, high-fidelity simulation using the PEARLS debriefing framework, and facilitated reflective discussion. The comparator condition is standard institutional orientation (approximately five days of general clinical induction without trauma-specific structured training). Comparator-arm participants are offered BTT, with the same continuing professional development credit, after their follow-up assessment (waitlist design).

Individual-level randomisation was not adopted due to contamination risk between nurses working on the same unit, and because staffing and rostering decisions are governed by institutional service demand rather than research allocation. Contamination is managed through scheduling separation, controlled distribution of training materials, and a two-item contamination check at follow-up.

The primary outcome is workforce sustainability, a formative composite index of four equally weighted, standardised components: job satisfaction (MOAQ-JSS), work engagement (UWES-9), personal burnout (CBI-PB, reverse scored), and retention intention. The primary analysis is a linear mixed-effects model with a time-by-arm interaction term, adjusting for site, prior trauma exposure, months since graduation, and delivery block. Secondary outcomes include the four composite components analysed individually, role transition stress (Rizzo Role Ambiguity and Role Conflict scales), trauma-care self-efficacy, general self-efficacy (GSE-10), and actual workforce retention from institutional HR records at 6 and 12 months. An exploratory mediation analysis examines whether role transition stress and self-efficacy mediate the effect of BTT on workforce sustainability.

The study is reported in accordance with the SPIRIT 2025 statement for trial protocols and the TREND statement for non-randomised intervention evaluations, with intervention reporting following the TIDieR checklist.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

128

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 Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Saudi Arabia
    • Ulaishah / Shumaisi
      • Riyadh, Ulaishah / Shumaisi, Saudi Arabia, 12746
        • King Saud Medical City
        • Contact:
          • Official Contact
          • Phone Number: 0114670000
          • Email: ksu@edu.sa
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Abdulaziz L Alanazi

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) licensure
  • Less than 12 months of post-licensure clinical experience at baseline
  • Current direct patient-facing employment in a trauma-related intensive care unit at King Saud Medical City or Northern Medical Tower
  • Willing and able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • More than 12 months of post-licensure clinical experience
  • Employment outside trauma-related ICU settings
  • Agency or temporary staffing status
  • Extended leave during the intervention or data-collection period
  • Prior formal trauma-specific training (ATCN, TNCC) before enrolment

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention (BTT)
Participants receive the Basic Trauma Training (BTT) programme, a two-day (14 contact-hour) simulation-based educational intervention, in addition to standard institutional orientation
Behavioral: Basic Trauma Training (BTT) Programme
A structured two-day, 14-contact-hour educational programme comprising five modules: trauma systems and primary survey principles; advanced trauma assessment and clinical reasoning; critical trauma interventions and patient safety; interprofessional communication and team leadership; and psychological preparedness, peer support and self-care. Delivered via didactic teaching, high-fidelity simulation using the PEARLS debriefing framework, and facilitated reflective discussion.
Experimental: Comparator (Standard Orientation)
Participants receive standard institutional orientation only (approximately five days of general clinical induction, without trauma-specific structured training). BTT is offered to this group after their follow-up (T1) assessment.
Other: Standard Institutional Orientation
Standard existing onboarding programme for newly employed nursing staff, comprising approximately five days of general clinical induction without trauma-specific structured training. Content and duration are documented at baseline to characterise the comparator condition precisely.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Workforce Sustainability (Composite Index)
Time Frame: Baseline (T0) and 4-6 weeks post-intervention/orientation (T1)
A formative composite index of four equally weighted, standardised (z-score) components: job satisfaction (Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire Job Satisfaction Subscale, MOAQ-JSS, 3 items, 7-point Likert), work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES-9, 0-6 frequency scale), personal burnout (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, CBI-PB, 6 items, 0-100 scale, reverse scored), and retention intention (validated instrument, to be finalised). Each component is standardised using the pooled baseline mean and SD across both arms at T0, and the four standardised components are averaged.
Baseline (T0) and 4-6 weeks post-intervention/orientation (T1)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Job Satisfaction
Time Frame: Baseline (T0) and 4-6 weeks post-intervention/orientation (T1)
Measured using the Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire Job Satisfaction Subscale (MOAQ-JSS, 3 items, 7-point Likert scale)
Baseline (T0) and 4-6 weeks post-intervention/orientation (T1)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Lincoln University College

Collaborators

King Saud Medical City
Lincoln University College Malaysia

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Abdulaziz L Alanazi, Lincoln University College
  • Study Director: Faridah M Said, Lincoln University College

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

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 (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

January 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 5, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 5, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 10, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 7, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • BTT-KSMC-NMT-2026
  • N1C-IRB-26-04-21 (Other Identifier: Institutional Review Board, Northern Border Health Cluster (Arar))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared with other researchers. The study involves sensitive health information collected from psychiatric nurses and patients in Saudi Arabia, and the informed consent process does not include permission for public sharing of de-identified participant-level data. To protect participant confidentiality and comply with institutional ethical requirements, applicable Saudi data protection regulations, and the approvals granted by the relevant Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), only aggregated study results will be published. Researchers interested in additional information may contact the Principal Investigator to discuss the availability of study materials, including the study protocol, statistical analysis plan, and data collection instruments, where appropriate.

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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