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Resilience Equine-Assisted Learning for Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Title: Resilience Equine-Assisted Learning for Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Authors: Burleson, Shannon1,2 (AUTHOR) sburleson@unr.edu, Taylor-Piliae, Ruth1 (AUTHOR), Rainbow, Jessica G1 (AUTHOR), Morrison, Helena W1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Experiential Education. Sep2026, Vol. 49 Issue 3, p485-508. 24p.
Abstract: Background: Burnout among undergraduate nursing students is a global concern. Resilience protects against stress that leads to burnout. Equine-assisted learning interventions promote resilience and reduce stress and burnout in diverse populations. Purpose: To assess the feasibility of the Resilience Equine-Assisted Learning (REAL) intervention as an outdoor experiential education activity and explore within-group changes in stress, burnout, and resilience among nursing students, using a three-group experimental design with random assignment. Method: Students were recruited from the School of Nursing and randomly assigned to a group: REAL intervention, unstructured horse interaction (UHI) active control, or treatment-as-usual control. Recruitment, retention, intervention adherence, acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, and safety were compared to benchmarks. Self-report tools measured stress, burnout, and resilience. Findings: Seventeen students (38% of benchmark) were recruited; 100% completed data collection. REAL group adherence was poor (average 53%), with schedule conflicts (100%) and winter weather (30%) as barriers. Students in the REAL and UHI groups reported high treatment acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility (>15). REAL intervention fidelity was high (>90%), and no adverse events occurred. Only the REAL group showed decreased post-intervention burnout-cynicism from baseline (p =.04). Implications: The REAL intervention was appropriate and acceptable, though extracurricular interventions present adherence challenges despite reductions in burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Experiential Education is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Resilience Equine-Assisted Learning for Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burleson%2C+Shannon%22">Burleson, Shannon</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> sburleson@unr.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Taylor-Piliae%2C+Ruth%22">Taylor-Piliae, Ruth</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rainbow%2C+Jessica+G%22">Rainbow, Jessica G</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Morrison%2C+Helena+W%22">Morrison, Helena W</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Experiential+Education%22">Journal of Experiential Education</searchLink>. Sep2026, Vol. 49 Issue 3, p485-508. 24p.
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Background: Burnout among undergraduate nursing students is a global concern. Resilience protects against stress that leads to burnout. Equine-assisted learning interventions promote resilience and reduce stress and burnout in diverse populations. Purpose: To assess the feasibility of the Resilience Equine-Assisted Learning (REAL) intervention as an outdoor experiential education activity and explore within-group changes in stress, burnout, and resilience among nursing students, using a three-group experimental design with random assignment. Method: Students were recruited from the School of Nursing and randomly assigned to a group: REAL intervention, unstructured horse interaction (UHI) active control, or treatment-as-usual control. Recruitment, retention, intervention adherence, acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, and safety were compared to benchmarks. Self-report tools measured stress, burnout, and resilience. Findings: Seventeen students (38% of benchmark) were recruited; 100% completed data collection. REAL group adherence was poor (average 53%), with schedule conflicts (100%) and winter weather (30%) as barriers. Students in the REAL and UHI groups reported high treatment acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility (>15). REAL intervention fidelity was high (>90%), and no adverse events occurred. Only the REAL group showed decreased post-intervention burnout-cynicism from baseline (p =.04). Implications: The REAL intervention was appropriate and acceptable, though extracurricular interventions present adherence challenges despite reductions in burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Experiential Education is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1177/10538259261421547
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        Text: English
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