Pilot and research structure
Steddly is currently a concept-stage pilot proposal. The first pilot would test whether personalised one-way SMS support feels useful, relevant, private, and low-friction for early-career nurses.
Concept-stage pilot demo seeking research/advisory input.
Employers only receive anonymous group-level reporting — never individual intake answers, phone numbers, or named responses.
The first concept-stage pilot is designed around early-career and new-grad nurses, where the support model can stay focused, private, and easier to refine.
First pilot focus
The first pilot stays intentionally focused so the nurse experience, privacy language, and evaluation questions can be refined carefully before any wider rollout conversation.
Rather than starting with “all nurses,” Steddly starts with early-career and new-grad nurses because current NZ nursing research points toward targeted support for higher-risk groups. A narrow first pilot makes the experience easier to design, easier to evaluate, and safer to refine before any wider rollout.
The first pilot would not claim clinical effectiveness. It would test feasibility, acceptability, relevance, privacy comfort, engagement, and perceived usefulness.
Source: Toma, G., Le Freve, D., Topp, M., & Rubie-Davies, C. (2025). Burnout in Nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand: A post-COVID Analysis. Nursing Praxis in Aotearoa New Zealand, 41(1), 21–34.
Read the Nursing Praxis articlePilot questions
A first pilot should stay honest about scope: who the experience is for, what it is testing, and where the boundaries sit for both nurses and organisations.
Can nurses join, stay opted in, and receive messages without friction?
Do the cadence, tone, and one-way format feel acceptable rather than intrusive?
Does a short optional intake make the messages feel more specific and worthwhile?
Do nurses trust the privacy boundaries and understand what employers can and cannot see?
Do nurses remain enrolled and complete occasional optional feedback prompts?
Do nurses describe the support as useful, low-friction, and appropriate to their work context?
Pilot structure
The pilot shape below is an example only. It is intended to support design conversations, not to imply a locked research protocol.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Week 0 | Private sign-up, consent, mobile number, optional intake |
| Week 1 | Welcome message plus the first three supportive texts |
| Weeks 2-3 | Three one-way supportive texts per week |
| Week 3 or 4 | Optional private feedback link |
| Weeks 4-7 | Continued one-way SMS support plus one further optional feedback prompt |
| Week 8 | Final support texts and optional closing feedback |
Careful measures
Examples of what could be explored in a first pilot without overclaiming impact:
Research and advisory input
Steddly is seeking input on pilot design, outcome measures, safety boundaries, privacy wording, and implementation. The aim is not to claim clinical effectiveness early. The aim is to build a responsible pilot that can produce useful de-identified, consent-based learning.
Organisation role
The organisational role is limited on purpose. Participation should stay voluntary, private, and clear.
Support layer, not organisational substitute
The Nursing Praxis article reinforces that burnout is shaped by workplace realities such as workload, staffing, psychosocial hazards, and workplace dynamics. Steddly should therefore be positioned as a lightweight support layer that complements — not replaces — organisational action.
What Steddly is not
Steddly is not therapy, diagnosis, live chat, or crisis counselling. It is also not clinical treatment, employee monitoring, or a replacement for safe staffing and proper workplace support.
Next step
Use this page as a pilot proposal summary only. The next conversation should be about design, safeguards, and fit.