AI-Assisted Tailored Intervention for Nurse Burnout: A Three-Group Randomized Controlled Trial

High-stress environments, heavy workloads, and the emotional demands of patient care, which are common challenges faced by nurses, are factors that can lead to burnout. Shift work can make traditional burnout interventions costly and difficult to implement. Artificial intelligence (AI) could offer solutions that are less constrained by time, resources, and labor.

To investigate the effectiveness of an AI-assisted intervention in reducing nurse burnout.

A single-blind, three-group, randomized controlled trial of 120 nurses (40 per group) was conducted from June 2023 to July 2023. The AI-assisted tailored intervention included two 2-week programs, delivering one of four programs to the intervention group: mindfulness meditation, acceptance commitment therapy, storytelling and reflective writing, or laughter therapy. The experimental group received tailored programs based on demographic and work-related characteristics, job stress, stress response, coping strategy, and burnout dimensions (client-related, personal, and work-related). Control Group 1 self-selected their programs, while Control Group 2 was provided with online information on burnout reduction. Primary outcomes, client-related, personal, and work-related burnout, were measured at baseline, week 2, and week 4. Secondary outcomes, job stress, stress responses, and coping strategies, were assessed at baseline and week 4. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, repeated measures ANOVA, and the Scheffé test for post hoc analysis.

The experimental group showed significant reductions in client-related burnout (F = 7.725, p = 0.001) and personal burnout (F = 10.967, p < 0.0001) compared to the other groups. Significant effects of time and time × group interactions were observed for client-related and personal burnout, with time effects noted for work-related burnout. Stress response reduction was highest in Control Group 1, followed by the experimental group and Control Group 2 (F = 3.07, p = 0.017).

AI algorithms could provide tailored programs to mitigate nurse burnout, particularly in client-related and personal burnout. Reducing nurse burnout could contribute to the quality of care.

This trial is registered with the Clinical Research Information Service (KCT0008546).