Research Purpose:This study aimed to develop a preliminary Nurses’ Physical Environmental Stress Scale (NPESS) that explores the relationships between the physical environment in the intensive care unit (ICU) and work-related stress among ICU nurses.Background:Working within the healthcare field is stressful and comes with a high level of responsibility for nurses, especially ICU nurses. The ICU work environment is associated with risk factors such as excessive workload, increased expectations, and long working hours that can lead to burnout among nurses. There is some evidence that environmental design has the potential to prevent or mitigate work-related stress; however, an adequate assessment tool to identify physical environmental stressors or supports for moderating stress is lacking.Methods:To develop the preliminary environmental assessment tool, an exploratory sequential methodology was used. The approach consisted of three distinct phases, including (a) a qualitative content analysis of existing focus group data, (b) a qualitative content analysis of pertinent literature related to environmental assessment tools in a healthcare context, and (c) the development and refinement of the NPESS assessment tool. Tool refinement was based on interviews with ICU nurses.Results:The resulting NPESS tool was comprised of seven sections (sounds, lighting, smells, staff respite spaces, staff workspaces, patient rooms, and aesthetic qualities) containing a total of and 81 items that address factors that were identified as potential moderators of environmental stress in ICU settings.Conclusions:The resulting NPESS assessment tool provides a feasible approach for evaluating ICU settings to identify possible improvements to reduce stress among nurses. Future research will be conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the final tool by distributing it to a larger sample of ICU nurses.

中文翻译：

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护士身体环境压力量表项目的初步编制


研究目的：本研究旨在开发一个初步的护士身体环境压力量表（NPESS），探讨重症监护病房（ICU）的物理环境与 ICU 护士的工作相关压力之间的关系。背景：在医疗保健领域工作这个领域压力很大，护士尤其是 ICU 护士需要承担很高的责任。 ICU 工作环境与工作量过大、期望值提高和工作时间长等风险因素有关，这些因素可能导致护士倦怠。有一些证据表明环境设计有可能预防或减轻与工作相关的压力；然而，缺乏适当的评估工具来识别物理环境压力源或缓解压力的支持。方法：为了开发初步环境评估工具，使用了探索性序贯方法。该方法由三个不同的阶段组成，包括（a）对现有焦点小组数据的定性内容分析，（b）对与医疗保健环境评估工具相关的相关文献进行定性内容分析，以及（c）开发和完善NPESS 评估工具。工具的改进基于对 ICU 护士的访谈。 结果：最终的 NPESS 工具由七个部分组成（声音、照明、气味、员工休息空间、员工工作空间、病房和美学品质），总共包含 81 个项目解决被确定为 ICU 环境压力潜在调节因素的因素。结论：由此产生的 NPESS 评估工具为评估 ICU 环境提供了一种可行的方法，以确定减轻护士压力的可能改进措施。 未来的研究将通过将其分发给更大的 ICU 护士样本来评估最终工具的有效性和可靠性。