Stress management in ICU nurses : the effectiveness of psycho-emotional therapy

Abstract

Overview of the Topic: Stress management is important, moreover, coping mechanisms are essential especially for nurses. Since a nurse’s job is taking care of other persons’ life all the times, being concentrated at all times is of utmost importance (Alharbi, H. & Alshehry, A., 2019). The Research Question: This dissertation addresses the following Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome (PICO) question: “In ICU nurses (P), are psycho-emotional therapy sessions (I) effective in managing stress (O)?” Search Methods: Different search engines were used to find literature relevant to the topic of interest. These were HyDi, PubMed and Google Scholar. Specific keywords were used such as ‘ICU nurses’, ‘psycho-emotional therapy sessions’, ‘no therapy sessions’ and ‘managing stress’. Only studies focusing on nurses who works in ICU were deemed to be relevant. Studies which focused on patients or other healthcare professionals were discarded. The literature search resulted in seventy-one relevant studies, but only six before-and-after studies fitted the inclusion criteria. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Cohort Study Checklist of 2018, the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Appraisal Checklists, both Quasi-Experimental Studies and Randomized Controlled Trials of 2017 were used as the critical appraisal tools. Results and Conclusion: Three studies showed positive results in stress management in ICU nurses after the therapy sessions while the other three showed no positive results. Apart from stress management, one study found improvement in compassion satisfaction and fatigue, depression, anxiety and burnout. No definite conclusion could be done but the studies leaned towards positive findings. Implications and Recommendations: Since the findings were inconclusive, further research is suggested. It is recommended to introduce psycho-emotional therapy sessions to the ITU nurses on managing their stress and so, their compassion and comfort during their work would be elevated. Lectures, seminars and other activities would help the ICU nurses understand the sense of empowerment over stress and moreover, amongst the staff itself, they can support each other better.