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Stress management interventions for intensive and critical care nurses: A systematic review.

Nursing in critical care
March 1, 2020
Ja'far Mohammad Aqeel Alkhawaldeh et al. (5 authors)
Journal ArticleSystematic ReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the methodological quality and effectiveness of interventions, including mindfulness, for managing occupational stress among intensive and critical care nurses.

Results Summary

The review found that mindfulness-based interventions were more effective than control conditions in reducing occupational stress among intensive and critical care nurses, though it highlighted the need for higher-quality studies.

Population

Intensive and critical care unit nurses

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (2)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
cognitive-behavioural skills training
decrease
occupational stress
intensive and critical care unit nurses
-
more effective in reducing
#1
mindfulness-based intervention
decrease
occupational stress
intensive and critical care unit nurses
-
more effective in reducing
#2
Abstract

BACKGROUND: The level of occupational stress of nurses working in intensive and critical care units is high. Although many studies have assessed the effectiveness of stress management interventions among intensive and critical care nurses, the methodological quality of these studies remains unclear. PURPOSE: The purpose of this review was to summarize and appraise the methodological quality of primary studies on interventions for management of occupational stress among intensive and critical care nurses. METHODS: This review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify primary studies that assessed the effectiveness of interventions in managing occupational stress among intensive and critical care nurses using multiple databases from January 2009 to June 2019. RESULTS: Twelve studies published between 2011 and 2019 were eligible for inclusion. These included studies were classified as being of good or fair quality. The consensus across the included studies was that, compared with control condition, cognitive-behavioural skills training and mindfulness-based intervention were more effective in reducing occupational stress among intensive and critical care unit nurses. CONCLUSION: Further research should focus on methodologically strong studies by blinding the outcome assessors, using Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) design with an active control group, using standardized assessment tools, and reporting enough details about the stress management intervention-related adverse events. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This review demonstrates the need for high methodological quality studies to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of stress management interventions before it can be recommended for use in clinical practice to reduce stress in intensive and critical care unit nurses. In addition, attention should be given to developing research protocols that place more emphasis on interventions aimed at the organization level to address the growing problem of occupational stress among intensive and critical care nurses.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Critical Care NursingHumansIntensive Care UnitsMindfulnessOccupational HealthStress, Psychological
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy75/10
Quality70/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations32
Citations/Year6.4
Relative Citation Ratio4.18
NIH Percentile90.8%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.95
Weight Score2.32
Normalized Score0.64
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