VR Breaks on Shift-worker Alertness

Stopped early · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Burnout, Professional

In brief

Physician wellness is a hot topic today. Fatigue and alertness are common challenges faced during long work hours. Virtual reality is an immersive technology which has been demonstrated to distract people from pain, stress, and anxiety. Guided relaxation and meditation can impact alertness. There is no literature reporting the impact immersive technologies like VR sessions could have on alertness, a critical area of concern in health care today which impacts physician wellness, quality of care, and duty hours. The investigator's long-term goal is to develop solutions that can be used across industries to improve human alertness. To solve this problem, the investigators propose to test the feasibility of using an immersive virtual reality experience as a scheduled break and measure the interventions effect on post-break alertness, stress, and anxiety. Previous work at our Institution has demonstrated that VR experiences can reduce pain, stress and anxiety in patients presenting to the emergency department.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04132141

Run by

George Washington University

People needed

25

Starts

2019-09-23

Expected to finish

2020-02-27

Last updated by the study team

2021-12-14

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• GW residents, physicians, medical students, and nurses between the ages of 18-65.
• will have at least 5 shifts over the study period in the GW Hospital

You may not qualify if…

• Unable to consent to study due to cognitive difficulty
• Current diagnosis of epilepsy, dementia, or other neurological disease that may prevent use of VR hardware and software
• Sensitivity to flashing light or motion
• Pregnancy, or a medical condition where the participant is prone to frequent nausea or dizziness
• Recent stroke
• Injury to the eyes, face, neck, or arms that prevents comfortable use of VR hardware or software, or safe use of the hardware (e.g., open sores, wounds, or skin rash on face)

Where it is running

• GW Hospital — Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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