Alert Fatigue, Health Personnel, Occupational Stress
Conditions
Keywords
Surgical intensive care, Alarm Fatigue, Job stress, Emotional Freedom Technique, Surgical nurse
Brief summary
Nurses working in surgical intensive care units face numerous health and safety stressors. The introduction of new health technologies, medical devices (such as bedside monitors, pump and perfuser devices, and mechanical ventilators), and changing health environments have contributed to increased work stress among nurses. This, in turn, has had negative effects on their physical and mental health outcomes. One of the hazards associated with medical devices is alarm fatigue. Noise pollution caused by bells, beeps, and horns in intensive care units can lead to alarm fatigue, defined as desensitisation to monitor alarms. Nurses are particularly susceptible to this due to their constant exposure to these sounds, which can also cause stress. Occupational stress is a recognised issue in this demanding field, characterised by disproportionate workloads and negative effects on performance.Work-related stress can lead to a loss of compassion towards patients and an increase in malpractice, negatively affecting the quality of care. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of applying emotional freedom techniques on work-related stress and alarm fatigue experienced by nurses working in surgical intensive care units.
Detailed description
Surgical intensive care units have high mortality and mobility rates and require 24-hour monitoring. Intensive care environments are stressful for working individuals, particularly nurses, due to health and safety concerns. In recent years, new health technologies and medical devices, as well as changing health environments, have increased work stress among nurses, leading to negative physical and mental health outcomes. The use of medical device alarms, including bedside monitors, pump devices, perfuser devices, patient heating-cooling devices, mechanical ventilators, computers, and nutrition devices, has increased over time. These alarms are used to monitor changes in the vital signs of patients and ensure continuity of care. However, alarm fatigue is a significant problem caused by medical devices. Noise pollution is a common issue in intensive care units due to the various sounds emitted by medical devices. Health professionals may experience alarm fatigue, which is defined as desensitisation to monitor alarms. Dealing with alarm fatigue requires objective and comprehensible solutions. Inappropriate techniques such as disabling alarms, delayed response, setting them between unsafe parameters, and turning down the volume so low that they cannot be heard, are cognitive stressors. The continuous exposure to these alarm sounds, coupled with the nature of nurses' work, can also cause stress. Occupational stress is a demanding profession that can have negative effects on performance. Therefore, it is important to address occupational stress in the nursing profession. It is quite common among nurses and can jeopardise both their quality of life and patient safety. Work-related stress can lead to a loss of compassion towards patients and an increase in malpractice, negatively affecting the quality of care. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of applying emotional freedom techniques on work-related stress and alarm fatigue experienced by nurses working in surgical intensive care units.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALEmotional Freedom Technique
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a powerful and effective practice that enables individuals to release negative emotions and achieve mental and physical relaxation. EFT is a form of counselling based on acupuncture points, which are areas of low electrical and energy flow in the body. Stimulating these points causes the brain to secrete dopamine. EFT involves stimulating specific points on the body where energy flow is low. This is done by gently tapping on these areas with the fingers, which releases dopamine. The process is painless and can be performed by the individual themselves.
Sponsors
Gürkan
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Participants will be blinded to their group assignment. The subjects will be selected in a randomized order using software. Data collection will be conducted without involvement from research analysts.
Intervention model description
This study was conducted as a randomised controlled study with experimental and control groups.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Being 18 years of age or older * Working as a nurse in one of the surgical intensive care units * Volunteering to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
* Working in a unit other than surgical intensive care units * Not volunteering to participate in the research
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale | 0-7 days tracking | The discomfort scale used in energy therapies allows individuals to evaluate their own discomfort on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no discomfort and 10 indicates unbearable discomfort. |
| Alarm Fatigue Scale | 0-7 days tracking | The scale consists of 13 items and produces a score between 0 and 36. A higher score indicates an increase in alarm fatigue. |
| The General Work Stress Scale | 0-7 days tracking | The General Work Stress Scale is a 9-item scale that produces scores ranging from 9 to 45. High scores indicate high job stress, while low scores indicate low job stress. |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed