Breaking the Silence in Nursing - An Intervention Study for Reducing Silence Among Nurses

Background Acquiescent and quiescent silence in work environments are associated with employee burnout (Knoll, Hall & Weigelt, 2019). We developed an online training program for employees and leaders in healthcare to enhance emotional authenticity as a core communication skill, which is expected to reduce silence behaviors and decrease emotional exhaustion. Objectives and Research questions This study evaluates whether the training improves authenticity knowledge and behavior, reduces employee silence and emotional exhaustion, and leads to high training satisfaction. We also explore these effects over time and across different participant subgroups. Participants The study included 140 participants at baseline (T0), with 40 completing the immediate post-training survey (T1). Further data were collected at 3 months (T2) and 6 months (T3), but with fewer participants. Study method A field experiment was conducted using a pre-post design. Quantitative data were collected through surveys at T0 and T1, with exploratory analyses conducted for T2 and T3.