Healthcare ProfessionalsNCT07136597
Narrative Medicine Effects on Burnout and Stress
A study testing Narrative Medicine Workshop in people with Healthcare Professionals, run by Wake Forest University Health Sciences at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
A rising area of interest over the past several years has been on the issue of physician burnout. Burnout can be defined as a chronic occupational stress response characterized by multi-dimensional exhaustion and diminished sense of fulfillment in one's personal and professional life. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Healthcare Professionals
- What is being tested?
- Narrative Medicine Workshop
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 60 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- Dec 2026to May 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Study participants must be current faculty at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (AHWFB) within three departments: internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics
Who cannot join
- Faculty who are not currently working at AHWFB may be excluded
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
United States1 site
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27157
Kennedy R Combs, MD, 828-458-9926, Kennedy.Combs@wfusm.edu
About this study
Official title: Investigating the Utility and Efficacy of Narrative Medicine Based Flash-writing on Healthcare Occupational Burnout and Stress Mitigation Among Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Faculty
A rising area of interest over the past several years has been on the issue of physician burnout. Burnout can be defined as a chronic occupational stress response characterized by multi-dimensional exhaustion and diminished sense of fulfillment in one's personal and professional life. Regarding the effects of emotional, occupational and physical stress on job satisfaction, standard of care and staff retention, it is important to determine meaningful methods to alleviate and prevent burnout among healthcare professionals.
Read the detailed description
Common coping strategies for burnout and occupational stress are related to social, emotional and physical factors. Community support, physical care and activity, as well as distancing from work have been found to be particularly efficient. Similarities among burnout strategies include cultivating community and building a sense of shared understanding. Additionally, improving self-awareness and regulating emotions are often the desired outcome of these strategies. Extending these strategies outside of workplace initiatives and into convenient, personal spaces has been suggested to preserve work-life balance.
Thus, narrative medicine offers a space for these strategies to culminate in flash writing. Narrative medicine has been proposed as a model for humane and effective medicine, combining narrative competence and medical practice. Using this model, gaining narrative competence has the ability to positively impact the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, as well as interprofessional teams and broader organizations. The efficacy of flash writing to gain this competence as well as manage the burnout stressors that would typically detract from narrative medicine warrants research into this area.
Flash writing offers the opportunity to investigate the relationship between reflective/ creative writing and burnout. Flash writing can be understood as short-form, creative pieces written in one's personal style. This type of writing exercise can be performed prompted or unprompted, takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and is meant to serve the psychological needs of the author. As such, its implementation in burnout alleviation or prevention as well as acute stress reduction may serve as an easily accessible, efficient and customizable strategy.
- Conditions
- Healthcare Professionals
- Being tested
- Narrative Medicine Workshop
- Keywords
- stress mitigation, exhaustion, mental health challenges
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Narrative Medicine WorkshopBehavioural
Also called narrative medicine based flash-writing
participants will be asked to attend 3/6 monthly narrative medicine workshops through the study's duration following an initial workshop that will be used to introduce the concepts of narrative medicine and flash writing.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| narrative medicine workshops | Experimental | participants will be asked to attend 3/6 monthly narrative medicine workshops through the study's duration following an initial workshop that will be used to introduce the concepts of narrative medicine and flash writing Receives: Behavioral: Narrative Medicine Workshop |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS)
Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey, is a questionnaire used to assess burnout among professionals in human service fields. It measures three core dimensions of burnout: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA). Each dimension is scored based on the responses to a series of questions, using a 7-point scale (0-6) where higher scores generally indicate higher levels of burnout.
Measured: Month 6
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted22 Aug 2025
- Study startDec 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completionDec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionMay 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Healthcare ProfessionalsStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Wake Forest University Health SciencesThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Model description
- narrative medicine based flash writing with burnout levels and stress response using a series of surveys and in-person workshops.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 60 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Cormac O'Donovan, MD, Principal investigator, Wake Forest University Health Sciences
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07136597
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- IRB00126610
- Status last verified
- Jul 2026
- First submitted
- 15 Aug 2025
- Last updated
- 28 Jul 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 28 Jul 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Investigating the Utility and Efficacy of Narrative Medicine Based Flash-writing on Healthcare Occupational Burnout and Stress Mitigation Among Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Faculty
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07136597
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- IRB00126610
- Conditions
- Healthcare Professionals
- Keywords
- stress mitigation, exhaustion, mental health challenges
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 60 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Wake Forest University Health SciencesUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- May 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 22 Aug 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
A rising area of interest over the past several years has been on the issue of physician burnout. Burnout can be defined as a chronic occupational stress response characterized by multi-dimensional exhaustion and diminished sense of fulfillment in one's personal and professional life. Regarding the effects of emotional, occupational and physical stress on job satisfaction, standard of care and staff retention, it is important to determine meaningful methods to alleviate and prevent burnout among healthcare professionals.
Detailed description
Common coping strategies for burnout and occupational stress are related to social, emotional and physical factors. Community support, physical care and activity, as well as distancing from work have been found to be particularly efficient. Similarities among burnout strategies include cultivating community and building a sense of shared understanding. Additionally, improving self-awareness and regulating emotions are often the desired outcome of these strategies. Extending these strategies outside of workplace initiatives and into convenient, personal spaces has been suggested to preserve work-life balance.
Thus, narrative medicine offers a space for these strategies to culminate in flash writing. Narrative medicine has been proposed as a model for humane and effective medicine, combining narrative competence and medical practice. Using this model, gaining narrative competence has the ability to positively impact the lives of healthcare professionals and patients, as well as interprofessional teams and broader organizations. The efficacy of flash writing to gain this competence as well as manage the burnout stressors that would typically detract from narrative medicine warrants research into this area.
Flash writing offers the opportunity to investigate the relationship between reflective/ creative writing and burnout. Flash writing can be understood as short-form, creative pieces written in one's personal style. This type of writing exercise can be performed prompted or unprompted, takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and is meant to serve the psychological needs of the author. As such, its implementation in burnout alleviation or prevention as well as acute stress reduction may serve as an easily accessible, efficient and customizable strategy.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
- Model description
- narrative medicine based flash writing with burnout levels and stress response using a series of surveys and in-person workshops.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| narrative medicine workshops | Experimental | Behavioral: Narrative Medicine Workshopparticipants will be asked to attend 3/6 monthly narrative medicine workshops through the study's duration following an initial workshop that will be used to introduce the concepts of narrative medicine and flash writing |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 21 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Study participants must be current faculty at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist (AHWFB) within three departments: internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Faculty who are not currently working at AHWFB may be excluded
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative Medicine WorkshopAlso: narrative medicine based flash-writingparticipants will be asked to attend 3/6 monthly narrative medicine workshops through the study's duration following an initial workshop that will be used to introduce the concepts of narrative medicine and flash writing. | Behavioural | narrative medicine workshops |
Primary outcome
Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS)
Time frame: Month 6
Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey, is a questionnaire used to assess burnout among professionals in human service fields. It measures three core dimensions of burnout: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA). Each dimension is scored based on the responses to a series of questions, using a 7-point scale (0-6) where higher scores generally indicate higher levels of burnout.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 28 Jul 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Cormac O'Donovan, MD principal investigator
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Narrative Medicine Workshop in people with Healthcare Professionals, run by Wake Forest University Health Sciences at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 28 Jul 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Kennedy R Combs, MD (828-458-9926, kennedy.combs@wfusm.edu), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) (time frame: Month 6). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 28 Jul 2026.