Psychological Support for Intensive Care Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The PROACTIVE Feasibility Trial

Nursing staff from critical care units within three Trusts will be approached, given information regarding the study, and invited to participate. Nurses who wish to take part will complete a consent form and a baseline range of psychological questionnaires. They will then be asked to join our group sessions; two guided imagery training sessions to enhance resilience; two therapy sessions, using the Flash Technique, to address symptoms of distress; and a final follow-up session to consolidate techniques learnt. Sessions will be delivered online, in four groups of ten staff. Recruitment will continue until the 40 intervention slots have been filled. Six months after the first intervention session, participants will be asked to repeat the range of psychological questionnaires, to help us understand whether the intervention helped to reduce psychological distress. The investigators will report recruitment and adherence rates and collect preliminary data regarding the effectiveness of the intervention. The investigators will also undertake a process evaluation, to examine acceptability and give participants a chance to report their experience of the study. Results will inform the design of a subsequent multi-centre trial investigating the effectiveness of the intervention in improving the mental wellbeing of intensive care nurses.