Immersive Virtual Reality for the Management of Anxiety Among Nurses

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Anxiety, Nurse Based Care Management

In brief

The nursing profession is recognized as one of the most demanding in the healthcare sector. Constant exposure to illness, suffering, and death, combined with an increasing workload, leads to fatigue, stress, and especially persistent anxiety. This anxiety affects not only the psychological and physical health of nurses but also the quality of care provided. From an organizational perspective, anxiety promotes absenteeism, demotivation, and turnover, creating a vicious cycle of collective exhaustion. To relieve their anxiety, an increasing number of healthcare providers are turning to complementary medicine, particularly immersive virtual reality (VR) interventions. Immersive VR hypnosis has been used for several years as a non-pharmacological approach to anxiety management. It constitutes a relational experience engaging both physiological and psychological mechanisms, allowing the user to improve their experience and reduce or even eliminate anxiety. Randomized clinical trials conducted in recent years have evaluated the efficacy of immersive VR hypnosis. Some results indicate that it reduces anxiety more significantly than pharmacological treatments in control groups and is at least as effective as other complementary therapies (relaxation, massage, acupuncture, yoga, etc.). However, the strength of these conclusions remains limited due to a substantial risk of methodological bias. Rigorous new studies, with strict control conditions, are required, particularly regarding the efficacy of hypnosis applied to nurses. Since 2024, the investigators have offered hypnotic VR sessions to nurses at the Clinique du Pont de Chaume to better manage their anxiety. Despite the high satisfaction rate reported in our questionnaires, the investigators now aim to statistically evaluate the efficacy of this intervention. Ultimately, these results could justify a broader investment in this type of equipment, making it available to a larger number of healthcare professionals but only if this complementary intervention demonstrates scientific efficacy.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07293221

Run by

SCP Anesthésie - Réanimation de la Clinique du Pont de Chaume

People needed

56

Starts

2026-03-01

Expected to finish

2028-02-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-04-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Nurses who have received appropriate information, agreed to participate, and signed the informed consent form.
• Nurses working day shifts (06:00-18:00) with a coffee break scheduled from 09:00 to 09:15.

You may not qualify if…

• Nurses who have not provided informed consent or cannot comply with the study protocol.
• History of photosensitive epilepsy or seizures. Unstable vestibular disorders or a severe history of motion sickness preventing the use of immersive VR.
• Employer refusal if participation cannot be organized outside work obligations (participation must remain voluntary and without professional consequences).

Where it is running

• Clinique du Pont de Chaume - Montauban — Montauban, France (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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