ICU Nurses: A Case Study

Improved Essays
The intensive care unit (ICU) is regarded as an extremely stressful work environment for nurses. Extensive work-related stress has been associated with psychological disturbances that influence the mental health status of ICU nurses. Work-related stress within the intensive care unit has been found to be correlated with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and burnout out syndrome (BOS) in ICU nurses. Anxiety and depressive symptoms in the workplace may result in alterations in behavior, such as lethargy, anger, irritability, and irresponsible conduct. The following research question is being used to guide this study: Is the level of psychological support provided after the occurrence of a critical or traumatic incident adequate enough for nurses working within the intensive care unit (ICU) environment. The qualitative phenomenological approach will enable …show more content…
11). The questions are intended to address the researcher’s purpose statement that he or she strives to answer in the study (Miller, 2014). The following research question is being used to guide this study: Is the level of psychological support adequate enough for nurses working within the ICU environment?
Interview Questions
1. What kinds of work-related incidents are perceived as most stressful on the intensive care unit? Please expound upon how you dealt with this trauma.
2. What types of supportive measures were provided after a critical incident has occurred? Please provide your opinion on the adequacy of the supportive measures that were offered to you.
3. Can you please describe in detail your feelings/emotional state towards the critical incident two to three months after receiving specific supportive measures? Please expound upon if you believe additional support could have been utilized during this time frame.

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Senior personnel, both officer and enlisted within the aviation community, must take action to become less judgmental and more accepting of receiving help. Senior members at every aviation unit must make a clear statement of support for those who seek help for stress or mental health. Aviators from the top down have a responsibility to speak openly about the daily stress encountered and how to cope with it in the healthiest, quickest ways possible. When it comes to receiving help for more severe tragic or traumatic stressors there has to be a clear acceptable and rapid action taken by commands to deploy the CISM program. In the past this practice was not always used or even brought up because of a “you should be able to deal with that, it wasn’t that bad, just get over it” attitude.…

    • 1804 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    C464 Task 1 Business Plan

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    C464 Task 1 Presentation Plan Outline Audience: My ideal intended audience is registered nurses who are employed in positions such as floor nurses or clinic nurses who provide direct patient care. Additionally, any employee who provides patient care, such as Certified Nursing Assistants, can benefit. The topic may also benefit nurse managers and trainers when communicating with staff and training new employees. This topic is significant to this audience because the primary concern for nurses and other healthcare providers is providing quality patient care, and one issue that many healthcare workers struggle with is stress-reduction.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Modified Caregiver Role Strain results and reflection. Many people provide care for physically, mentally sick people who are not able to care for themselves; for some, it is their chosen job and for others it is family responsibility. Many caregivers have multiple responsibilities including their own professional work, family and social obligations. Balancing multiple roles can be difficult and stressful, and can result in a caregiver’s fatigue and burnout, and it can affect his/her physical and mental health (Touhy & Jett, 2012).…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I am an excellent communicator and listener and I’m good at making people feel at ease. My non-judgmental and calm demeanor are an asset to soothing highly stressed and traumatized individuals. I’m fully aware that in order to help someone who is going through a traumatizing situation, it’s important to set aside your own feelings, opinions and even suggestions and focus on their feelings, needs and expectations about the situation they are going through. This is the best way to help them and provide them with any resources that they may need even if doesn’t seem they are seeking for it. Many times victims that are going through hard situations refuse to get any help and even blame themselves for the actions of those who have hurt them, this is where one has to understand the victim's position and still provide them with the resources they need without overstepping any…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Compassion Fatigue Nursing

    • 1251 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The term compassion fatigue was first introduced in 1992 by Joinson, a nurse, to describe her work environment with emergency room personnel (Sacco, Ciurzynski, Harvey & Ingersoll, 2015). Unknowingly, nurses and other health care workers experience secondary effects related to the tragic events and emotions that their patients endure. The most compelling debate in the reviewed literature was the similarity and distinct differences between burnout and compassion fatigue. The key similarity of burnout and compassion fatigue is that both issues chronically force nurses into demanding coping and adaptation measures (Boyle, 2011). In contrast to compassion fatigue, burnout is defined by workplace stressors such as staffing shortages, conflict among staff members, and intense workloads that with prolonged exposure can cause a nurse to withdraw and neglect responsibilities that can negatively affect patient outcomes (Boyle, 2015).…

    • 1251 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Essay On Ambiguity

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    We need to evaluate how the crisis victim responds to the crisis along with listening to them. Such as how did the victim deal with the crisis? Is there any medical or safety issues that need to be dealt with? We should not approach any intervention with any ideas on how the client should to be responding to the crisis. We should comprehend the individual client by listening to their expressions of the traumatic…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The important role of Critical Care Nurse Nurses have been playing an important role in every aspect of healthcare. One main reason is they are the ones closest to patients and every critical change would be required to report to the doctor. Beside traditional med-surg staff nurse, nurses in the other departments help to contribute to the performance of patients as well. Intensive care nurses are the people who specialized in providing the optimal care for critically ill and unstable patients. They often work in the Intensive Care Unit departments at the hospital in different areas such as adults, pediatrics and infants.…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Weekly Self Reflection

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Weekly Self S.O.A.P - A. S- Discuss your SUBJECTIVE feelings for this week. This week I was assigned to be in the ICU. To say that I expected to be busy is an understatement. I knew to expect critically ill patients and to see them at their worse with different types of lines and tubes coming out of their bodies. The fragile state in which these patients find themselves was hard for me to see, it was actually a bit overwhelming the first day.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Improving CISD to Reduce PTSD Amongst EMS Workers The current system for reducing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) amongst Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel is ineffective and there is a lack of uniformity in the implementation of the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) in New York State. Introduction The U.S. Fire Administration identified that one barrier to recruitment and retention in emergency response personnel is the inadequate emotional support after a critical incident.…

    • 2391 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    These factors combined with the emotional intensity of patient care put professional nurses at an elevated risk of emotional exhaustion, a syndrome referred to as burnout (Lyndon, 2016). Burnout may also result from heavy workloads, inefficiency, and other complications characteristic of advanced clinical practice (Hylton, 2015). Some of the most common symptoms of burnout include stress, compassion fatigue, depersonalization, and physical or emotional exhaustion, among others (Raftery, 2015). Burnout also shows through hardened attitudes, fatigue, and depression, among other characteristics, which may interfere with the caring process (Black,…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Nurse Burnout

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A great career that includes a competitive environment, educational opportunities, well paid salary and easy transitions yet also comes with a major risk. The risk of becoming fatigued to the point of complete burnout or worse, a nervous breakdown, is prevalent among nurses. The suck it up mentality of today’s workforce leaves little room for consideration of a nurse’s well-being. However, it is imperative that nursing leaders and management pay close attention to their employees health, physical and mental, and incorporate programs that facilitate a healthy work environment that raises morale and…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Between 1991 and 2000 the number of parents incarcerated in state and federal prisons increased by 79%. In addition, five percent of all women in jail are pregnant. Thus, a state department of corrections may have more than 100 women give birth while incarcerated in any given year. Most of these children are immediately separated from their mothers. The separation of the child and mother may cause increased levels of anxiety and depression for the mother and seriously disrupt the mother-child relationship.…

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Crisis theory is an important analytical tool for social workers to use when working with emergency first responders dealing with mental health issues following a critical incident. Those in the emergency response profession are unlikely to describe their job as mundane. Daily, adrenaline pumps through their systems as they respond to the worst events, people will face in their lifetime. As a defense mechanism, first responders are able to operate in their logical minds, build up a resilience, and keep themselves separate from the travesties they witness.…

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Icu Nurse Reflection

    • 1370 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The semester is nearing its end and I feel that I have grown personally and professionally during our clinical rotation at Saddleback Memorial Hospital. It has helped me recognize my strengths and areas for improvement, as well as given me a valuable outlook of what I want to do after graduation. Looking back at the previous weeks during this clinical rotation has brought some invaluable insights on nursing practice, safety, and advocacy. Preconceptions of Critical Care…

    • 1370 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crises are something which cannot be avoided throughout the course of an individual’s lifetime. It is associated with life changes and the transition from childhood to adulthood. This is made worse when people go through hazardous events such as a loss in the family, job loss or financial issues (Healy, 2014). Crisis intervention aims to help with how people manage and deal with these crises, if handled well can contribute to someone’s personal growth (Healy, 2014). This essay will describe the crisis intervention method, how it came about and how relevant it is to the social work practice.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays