1Assistant Professor, M.M. College of Nursing, M. M University, Mullana, Ambala
2Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, AIIMS, Jodhpur
Intensive care units ICUs environment has been regarded as a leading stressor because of complex nature of patients’ health problems that require an extensive use of very sophisticated technology. Objectives of the study were to assess and compare nurses’ and patients’ perception of stimuli and stress experienced by patient in ICUs and to determine association of nurses’ and patients’ perception of stimuli and stress experienced by patients in ICUs with their selected personal variables 80 subjects (40 nurses and 40 patients) were purposively selected. A non experimental approach with descriptive comparative design was used. The data related to stimuli and stress by nurses and patients was collected on structured stimuli and stress assessment scale. Results shows that overall perceived stress of patients were significantly higher than those of nurses perception of stress for their patients (‘z’=21.7, p<0.05). Top three stressors perceived by both nurses and patients in ICUs were 1) being on ventilator 2) too much noise 3) fear of death. Nurses must attempt to identify and endeavour to cope with the situations that patients listed as most stressful.
Perception of Stimuli and Stress, Patients, Intensive Care, Nurses, Stress
