Effect of a brief virtual resilience, insight, self-compassion and empowerment (RISE) training on distress tolerance of oncology nurses: a randomized controlled trial

Oncology nurses experience high work-related stress, and distress tolerance is essential for coping with high-stress environments. Although psychological interventions support nurses’ mental health, the impact of RISE training on distress tolerance among oncology nurses has not been investigated. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of RISE training on the distress tolerance of oncology nurses. This two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted among 58 oncology nurses from two university general hospitals in Tehran. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The RISE training consisted of four weekly 15-minute virtual sessions with daily practice exercises and follow-up phone calls. Data were collected using the Distress Tolerance Scale at baseline and at 1 and 3 months post-intervention. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA and repeated measures ANOVA based on a per-protocol approach. No statistically significant between-group differences in distress tolerance were observed at the 1-month follow-up ( p = 0.935, ηp² = 0.001) or the 3-month follow-up ( p = 0.760, ηp² = 0.002). No significant within-group changes were observed in either group ( p > 0.05). The brief virtual RISE intervention did not produce a statistically significant improvement in self-reported distress tolerance among oncology nurses. This Iranian clinical trial was registered (18/04/2024) in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials ( https://www.irct.ir/ .) with trial registration number IRCT20140913019141N3.