Debriefing for intensive care unit nurses wellbeing: A hybrid type 2 implementation-effectiveness study

Intensive care nurses play a critical role in delivering complex, patient-centred, life-saving care, yet they face persistent workforce challenges. Debriefing is increasingly recognised as a potential strategy to support nurse wellbeing and workforce sustainability, though evidence of its impact remains limited and warrants further investigation.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness outcomes of a proactive debriefing intervention that promotes wellbeing for nurses employed in the intensive care unit of a large quaternary metropolitan hospital in Australia.

An exploratory feasibility study using a hybrid type 2 implementation-effectiveness approach using a pre-post design was conducted. Feasibility outcomes (recruitment, attendance, acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility) and exploratory wellbeing outcomes (Workplace Positive Emotion Relationships Meaning and Accomplishment Scale, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory), as well as aggregate organisational and patient-related data, were collected monthly and analysed. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis.

Intensive care nurses who participated in proactive debriefing showed a small to moderate improvement in wellbeing scores (mean difference = 0.30 standard deviation: 0.72; 95% confidence interval: -0.03 to 0.63; n = 21; Cohen's d = 0.42). Implementation outcomes indicated high acceptability and appropriateness but slightly lower feasibility, with attendance barriers identified as shift arrangements, patient acuity, staffing constraints, and lack of support at an organisational level. Most nurses requested the continuation of debriefing, citing benefits to wellbeing, professional growth, and improvement of team culture.

This study demonstrated that intensive care unit nurses' benefit from regular debriefing. Future research must further consider barriers, underscoring the importance of organisational support.