Journal Name:
- International Journal of Nursing
Keywords (Original Language):
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Abstract (Original Language):
Background: This manuscript reports the qualitative findings of a mixed methods research study conducted in
December.2012. This manuscript focus on describing how health care providers managed their patient’s stressors
in the intensive care units (ICU). Approximately 4.4 million patients require intensive care unit (ICU) treatment
annually in the United States (National Quality Measures Clearing House, 2012).No specific protocol is
present to guide the health care providers in managing their ICU patients' stressors. There is a need to investigate
how health care providers manage their patients stress.
Methods: Mixed methods research design was used. Phenomenological approach was used for the qualitative
section. The sample included 70 ICU health care providers. The researcher developed a paper based tool that
asked participants about their demographic data, and asked open ended questions investigated how health care
providers managed their patient's stressors. Consent forms were signed voluntarily by all participants; all ethical
considerations were guaranteed in this study. This study was conducted in one of the large hospitals in southern
California that have 46 ICU beds
Results: Health care providers reported that they manage their ICU patient's stressors by implementing four
themes of practice: Communication, pain management, encouraging the presence of family, and environmental
control. Those were the major strategies in health care providers' management of patients' stressors.
Conclusion: ICU staff can manipulate the ICU environment to be less stressful; the findings of this study could
guide the development of ICU patients stress management protocol.
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