Stress and the intensive care patient: perceptions of patients and nurses

Abstract

This study was a replication of an earlier Cochran & Ganong study (1989) that investigated the perception of nurses and patients regarding the stressors faced by patients in the intensive care unit environment. As the original study was American in origin, one of the aims of the present study was to discover if the results would be replicated in a United Kingdom (UK) intensive care unit.Data collection was by the use of an environmental stressor questionnaire that was an adaptation of the original data collection tool modified for use in a UK intensive care unit.The study was undertaken in two intensive care units producing a sample size of 71 patients and 71 nurses.There appears to be a wide variation in the perception of nurses and patients regarding the stress faced by patients in the intensive care unit. Similarities were noted between subject groups as to the nature of the stressors, although nurses tended to rate items over which they believed they had control as being more stressful than did the patients. Patients tended to rate items related to their illness and physical comfort as being most stressful.The results are in keeping with those from the Cochran & Ganong study.

Avaliação dos pacientes sobre os estressores em uma unidade coronariana

“…Nesta perspectiva, a privacidade pode não ser considerada como prioridade para eles (15) . Acreditamos que, para os profissionais da enfermagem, é extremamente importante conhecer os reais fatores que causam estresse ao paciente internado na UCO, visto que trabalhos anteriores (7,16) mostram que a avaliação da equipe de enfermagem nem sempre condiz com a avaliação do paciente. Uma avaliação distorcida impede a equipe de discriminar adequadamente os fatores que causam estresse para o paciente e a equipe de saúde pode estar projetando seus sentimentos nesse indivíduo (17) .…”

Estressores percebidos por pacientes no pós-operatório imediato de cirurgia cardíaca

“…The Environmental Stressor Questionnaire (ESQ) (13) , adapted to Portuguese language (4) , and hereinafter called Escala de Avaliação de Estressores em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (as per its name in Portuguese, after adaptation) was used within 48 hours of the ICU discharge by means of individual interview for the evaluation of stressors in IPP.…”

Estressores em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva: versão brasileira do The Environmental Stressor Questionnaire

“…B) The Environmental Stressor Questionnaire -ESQ: a modified version of the ICUESS, focused on the measurement of ICU stressors (8) , with 50 items assessed with a 5-point likerttype scale: (1) not stressful; (2) moderately stressful; (3) very stressful; (4) extremely stressful and (0) not applicable, which may be used if the patient has not experienced some of the stressful event(s) listed in the ESQ (12) . The total score is obtained by means of the sum of the answers of the 50 items, with a possible range of 0-200, and, the higher the result, the higher the stress perceived by the patient.…”

“…The average scores are calculated for each of the 50 items and ranked from the most stressful to the least stressful (12) . After answering the ESQ, the respondents are asked to choose the three most stressful factors of the 50-item list (8)(9)(10) . The ESQ also has two open-ended questions about suggestions of inclusion of items to the scale and comments about the instrument.…”

“…Another eight items were incorporated to this instrument according to suggestions from a previous study (7) , resulting in a questionnaire with 50 items named Environmental Stressor Questionnaire (ESQ) (8) .…”