Nurses face workplace stressors that can impact their mental health and job satisfaction, resulting in burnout, job dissatisfaction and turnover. In addition to negatively impacting their personal health, these consequences can also affect healthcare organizations, contributing to the ongoing nursing shortage and lowering quality of care and patient outcomes.
Beginning in 2018, the AdventHealth Research Institute developed and piloted RISE©, an evidence-based psychoeducational group intervention designed specifically for nurses and nurse leaders to improve their well-being by addressing the harmful effects of burnout and stress. Facilitated by licensed mental health professionals, eight weekly group sessions focus on four themes: Resilience, Insight, Self-compassion and Empowerment through a combination of learning, self-reflection, skill development and peer support. The program is now available to nurses and unit-based nurse leaders throughout the AdventHealth Central Florida Division’s 20 hospital campuses.
An Effective Intervention Grounded in Research
With the goals of fostering hope and healing, promoting self-care, building social connection and reducing symptoms of distress, RISE© was first piloted with AdventHealth direct care nurses in 2018, and in 2019, a randomized controlled trial was conducted. The program was then adapted for unit-based nurse leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic and piloted during the height of the Delta surge in 2021. In 2022, the AdventHealth Research Institute conducted a randomized controlled trial with nurse managers and assistant nurse managers.
Biobehavioral Research Scientist
AdventHealth Research Institute Behavioral Research Scientist Amanda Sawyer, PhD served as Principal Investigator, and AdventHealth Research Institute Psychotherapist and Research Scientist Mandi Bailey, MA, LMHC was a sub-investigator for the research studies. All four studies demonstrated feasibility and statistically significant improvements in well-being outcomes, including those related to the four program themes along with post-traumatic growth, professional quality of life and perceived stress. Additionally, a matched case control study conducted in 2022 found retention to be 20% higher during the pandemic among nurses who participated in RISE© compared to matched controls.
Psychotherapist and Research Scientist
“While organizational well-being programs have historically focused on prevention efforts through education, RISE© is unique in that it offers a more comprehensive intervention grounded in therapeutic best practices that in
tegrate mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and cog
nitive-behavioral therapy,” explains Bailey, who developed the RISE© programe an
d oversees all training, implementation and operations. "RISE© provides education to improve coping and well-being by addressing the underlying causes and effects of high stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue while also offering support and facilitation to heal existing stress injuries. To the best of our knowledge, no other healthcare system in the country has an employee-facing mental health team offering such an empirically supported program to its employed nurses free of charge.”
Future Expansion of the RISE Program
The AdventHealth Research Institute designed RISE© to be applicable and adaptable to nurses of various specialties in all care settings. In 2024, AdventHealth plans to study the program’s effectiveness in additional populations of healthcare workers and begin expanding it to additional AdventHealth facilities throughout Florida and the U.S.
AdventHealth administration believes these research efforts are critical to better understanding and supporting healthcare professionals’ well-being.
“Managing stress and protecting themselves from burnout reduces personal and work-related distress,” shares Cathy Stankiewicz, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for AdventHealth’s Central Florida South Region. “This multifaceted approach to the improvement of well-being and reduction of burnout is crucial for employee satisfaction and retention with a positive impact on patient safety and quality of care at AdventHealth.”