Impact of Virtual Group-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Social Adjustment and Work-Family Conflict Among Intern Nurses: A Randomized Control Trial

Given the nature of the nursing profession, intern-nurses frequently interact with patients, their families, physicians, and all levels of hospital administration. Time, long-term work, shifting hours, sleeplessness, death observation, cancer, high healthcare demands, and a low tolerance for incompetence are all sources of stress for those newly graduate nurses. As a result, their social adjustment significantly affects whether they are able to remain motivated and collaborative. Work conflict has become a type of intra-role conflict in which both parties' work and family responsibilities overlap. This term applies to the unfavorable interaction that exists between work and family when there is a discrepancy between reality and expectations, which disrupts and affects job performance at work or at home.

Intern nurses was trained in the Main University Hospital (El-Miri), University Hospital Smouha, El Shatby Hospital for Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and El Hadara Orthopedic and Traumatology University hospital this study will be conducted. These hospitals were affiliated to Alexandria University for clinical training of intern-nurses in all nursing disciplines for around 12 months, beginning in September 2022 and ending in August 2023.According to the records of the internship candidates' affairs department and internship coordinator at the Faculty of Nursing, the total number of enrolled candidates during this academic year was 800 candidates. G*Power Windows 3.1.9.7 a program with the following parameters was used to estimate the participants: Power (1-β err prob) =.88, effect size =.5, α err prob = .05. The program identified a minimum sample size of 34 intern nurses for each group. Thus, the sample will be comprised of 70 intern nurses, the study group will compose of n = 35 participants, the control group will be the same number. A representative sample of intern nurses will be allocated to either the study or control groups using the random assignment technique.

"Implementation phase": Seventy intern-nurses will be selected at random to assign the study or control group, the researchers will attempt to match the control group as accurately as possible in terms of age, gender, marital status, and working hours' duration. Then, those participants will meet individually in a private online meeting to create rapport, discuss the goal of the study and the therapy that will be employed, and obtain their written consent.

The pretest phase will begin with the collection of baseline assessment data from the study and control groups on the study instruments II, III, and IV, utilizing computerized forms.

The intervention phase will start with the study group being randomly will be divided into five small groups, each having six ACT participants.