Dear ER/ICU Nurse,
My name is Elvira Dominguez-Gomez, and I am an assistant professor at the School of Nursing (SoN) at California State University San Marcos. My co-investigator in this study is Razel Milo, an associate professor at the University of San Diego. We are conducting a research study that examines the relationship between compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), compassion fatigue (CF)/secondary trauma (ST), and perceived levels of communication difficulty by nurses employed in emergency rooms and intensive care units. This study will be compared to findings of a previous pilot study that was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this form is to inform you about the study.
Why am I being invited to take part in this study?
You are invited to take part in this study because you were identified as a nurse employed in the Emergency Department or Intensive Care Unit.
What will I do if I agree to participate?
If you agree to participate in the study, you will be asked to complete the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), the Silencing Response Scale (SRS), and if you are willing to participate in a short online interview via Zoom platform. The online survey will be about 15 minutes and the online interview will take about an hour. The questions focus on a narrative descriptive phenomenological approach, expanding on everyday patient care experiences that were perceived as traumatic. Lastly, you will be asked demographic questions, such as your gender, age, years employed in your department, work shift, average hours of work per week, primary employment location, and ethnicity. It is important to note that you can skip any question you feel uncomfortable answering or stop the survey at any time. The study participants will receive a $20 gift card for their time.
What happens if I say yes, but I change my mind later?
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may decline to participate at any time, even after the study has started. If you choose not to participate or to withdraw from the study, there will be no penalty, and you will be able to keep any incentives you have earned up to the point at which you withdraw.
What are the benefits to me for being in this study?
Your participation will contribute to the body of research that looks at understanding nurses employed in the ED/ICU’s professional quality of life and communications pattern, compared to pre-COVID pandemic. I recognize that this may be one more thing to do today but keep in mind that your participation is voluntary - but if you decide to participate, you will provide us with much needed information to help our colleagues and ourselves.
What happens to the information collected for the study?
Your responses will be confidential, but not anonymous since we must collect a phone number if you decide to participate in the qualitative portion of the study. Your online responses do not require a name, or email address. To maintain confidentiality, all participant data will be coded; only the primary investigator and the research team will have access to information about the participants’ identity, and this information will be kept in a password-protected computer at the California state University San Marc
PLEASE KEEP THIS INFORMATION SHEET FOR YOUR RECORDS.