Exploring the meaning of critical incident stress experienced by intensive care unit nurses

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliana Harvey ◽  
Dianne M. Tapp
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Critical Incident Stress ◽  
Intensive Care Unit Nurses

scholarly journals A critical incident study of ICU nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 096973302110432
Author(s):  
Ann Rhéaume ◽  
Myriam Breau ◽  
Stéphanie Boudreau
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Stressful Environment ◽  
Intensive Care Unit Nurses

Background: Intensive care unit nurses are providing care to COVID-19 patients in a stressful environment. Understanding intensive care unit nurses’ sources of distress is important when planning interventions to support them. Purpose: To describe Canadian intensive care unit nurse experiences providing care to COVID-19 patients during the second wave of the pandemic. Design: Qualitative descriptive component within a larger mixed-methods study. Participants and research context: Participants were invited to write down their experiences of a critical incident, which distressed them when providing nursing care. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the ethics committee at the researchers’ university in eastern Canada. Results: A total of 111 critical incidents were written by 108 nurses. Four themes were found: (1) managing the pandemic, (2) witness to families’ grief, (3) our safety, and (4) futility of care. Many nurses’ stories also focused on the organizational preparedness of their institutions and concerns over their own safety. Discussion: Nurses experienced moral distress in relation to family and patient issues. Situations related to insufficient institutional support, patient, and family traumas, as well as safety issues have left nurses deeply distressed. Conclusion: Identifying situations that distress intensive care unit nurses can lead to targeted interventions mitigating their negative consequences by providing a safe work environment and improving nurses’ well-being.

Experiences of intensive care unit nurses with COVID-19 patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudete Aparecida Conz ◽  
Vanessa Augusta Souza Braga ◽  
Rosianne Vasconcelos ◽  
Flávia Helena Ribeiro da Silva Machado ◽  
Maria Cristina Pinto de Jesus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Professional Recognition ◽  
Public And Private Hospitals ◽  
Training And Support ◽  
Continuous Use ◽  
Intensive Care Unit Nurses

ABSTRACT Objective: To understand the experiences of intensive care unit nurses who provide care to patients with COVID-19. Methods: Qualitative study grounded in Alfred Schütz’s social phenomenology in which 20 nurses who work in intensive care units at public and private hospitals were interviewed between July and September 2020. Data were analyzed according to the adopted theoretical-methodological framework and the literature related to the subject. Results: The interviewed nurses mentioned demands about working conditions, professional recognition and training, and support to physical and mental health, which proved necessary considering the care intensity experienced by these professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Learning the nurses’ experiences evidenced the need to adjust to a new way of providing care that included the physical space, new institutional protocols, continuous use of protective equipment, and patients’ demand for special care. This originated the necessity to be around situations that interfered with their health and motivated them to carry out professional projects after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quantifying Occupational Stress in Intensive Care Unit Nurses: An Applied Naturalistic Study of Correlations Among Stress, Heart Rate, Electrodermal Activity, and Skin Temperature

2021 ◽  
pp. 001872082110408
Author(s):  
Nima Ahmadi ◽  
Farzan Sasangohar ◽  
Tariq Nisar ◽  
Valerie Danesh ◽  
Ethan Larsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Skin Temperature ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
High Level ◽  
Intensive Care Unit Nurses ◽  
Skin Temperatures

Objective To identify physiological correlates to stress in intensive care unit nurses. Background Most research on stress correlates are done in laboratory environments; naturalistic investigation of stress remains a general gap. Method Electrodermal activity, heart rate, and skin temperatures were recorded continuously for 12-hr nursing shifts (23 participants) using a wrist-worn wearable technology (Empatica E4). Results Positive correlations included stress and heart rate (ρ = .35, p < .001), stress and skin temperature (ρ = .49, p < .05), and heart rate and skin temperatures (ρ = .54, p = .0008). Discussion The presence and direction of some correlations found in this study differ from those anticipated from prior literature, illustrating the importance of complementing laboratory research with naturalistic studies. Further work is warranted to recognize nursing activities associated with a high level of stress and the underlying reasons associated with changes in physiological responses. Application Heart rate and skin temperature may be used for real-time detection of stress, but more work is needed to validate such surrogate measures.

Magnitude of Low Back Pain and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working at Intensive Care Unit in Amhara Region Public Hospitals, Ethiopia  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bitew Tefera ◽  
Haymanot Zeleke ◽  
Abebe Abate ◽  
Haimanot Abebe ◽  
Zebene Mekonnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Low Back Pain ◽  
Back Pain ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Low Back ◽  
Amhara Region ◽  
Patient Handling ◽  
Intensive Care Unit Nurses

Abstract Background Low back pain is a common public health problem throughout the world with the global prevalence from 28–86%. Nurses working in intensive care units are handling people who are critically ill and helpless, which requires more assistance for transferring and handling activities. This possesses a risk for low back pain but little is known about it in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of low back pain and associated factors among nurses who work at an intensive care units in Amhara region public hospitals, North Ethiopia. Methods A multi-centered institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Amhara region public hospitals from March 1–30/2020. Simple random sampling technique after proportional allocation was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a standard modified Nordic musculoskeletal assessment tool. After data were checked for completeness and consistency, it was entered into Epidata version 3.1 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Science software version 26 for analysis. Descriptive statistics were computed. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with low back pain. Finally, those variables with a p-value of < 0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered statistically significant. Result -The study was conducted among 412 intensive care unit nurses giving a response rate of 97.6%. The magnitude of low back pain was 313 (76 %) [95% CI: (71.6%-79.9%)]. Being female [AOR = 2.674 (1.404, 5.076)], unavailability of assistive device for patient handling [AOR = 2.139 (1.035, 4.410)], lack of training on intensive care [AOR = 2.017 (1.092 ,3.943)], lack of regular exercise [AOR = 2.164 (1.164 ,4.108)] and job stress [AOR = 3.66 (1.955, 6.498)] were factors significantly associated with low back pain. Conclusions In this study the magnitude of low back pain was high. Being female, unavailability of assistive device for patient handling, lack of training on intensive care, lack of regular exercise and job stress were factors associated with low back pain. Policy makers and concerned bodies should give emphasis on accessability of assistive devices for patient care, provision of training on intensive care and adaptive working environment for intensive care unit nurses.

The Perspectives of Intensive Care Unit Nurses About the Current and Ideal Nursing End-of-Life Care

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke Noome ◽  
Boukje M. Dijkstra ◽  
Evert van Leeuwen ◽  
Lilian C. M. Vloet
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Intensive Care Unit Nurses
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