Clinical Question

Nurses are the most prominent professional groups witnessed in the health care workforce. Moreover, their work was observed as psychically demanding. This translates that such workers are exposed to work stress, which has the ability to lead to behavioral, physical, and psychological effects. It has been noted that most of the emergency room nurses record high levels of obesity level incidents of high blood pressure, high level of cholesterol and being diabetic. What is more, due to work stress together with the health-related complications, such nurses are recording a high level of absenteeism. Such absenteeism will continue making the government and the healthcare system to keep experiencing losses and costs.

Most regretfully, the respective nurses have been living in a sedentary life supported with desk jobs, which has negatively increased the prevalence of cardiovascular disease among them. Nevertheless, less focus has been attributed to the importance of the physical activity to such workers to enable the deal with such health challenges. The main agenda of findings are meant to make sure that the health safety of the emergency room nurse is maintained

Hence, the responding of the PICOT query would be relevant to emergency room nurses to establish a plan of engaging in physical activity. Besides, answering the question will seek to reduce health complications with individual nurses.

Therefore, the PICOT question would be (Conceptual definition)

For emergency room nurses (P), how does implementing a regular exercise routine (I) compared to having a sedentary life (C) influence stress levels (O) during work (T)?

Operational Definition

Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how physical activity against living a sedentary lifestyle is pertinent in augmenting the health safety of emergency room nurses by reducing health-related disorders and complications that result from work stress.

Search Strategy

The primary search strategy engaged was a literature review from sources from libraries. After a period of consultation with the EBSCOhost database, a number of articles emerged. After login in, the search terms mainly used were patient emergency room nurses, sedentary lifestyle, health-related problems of emergency room nurses, stress, and physical activity. Nevertheless, the question was narrowed to 'how can physical activity assist emergency room nurses to reduce stress?' Such narrowing permitted the documentation of the most relevant articles written. The relevance was given to see that articles that are less than five years were taken into consideration. Some of these articles highlighted how the lack of physical activity is related to the development of health-related complications. On the other hand, some of them highlighted the importance of encompassing physical activity by nurse professionals. However, some of the physical activities that an emergency room emergency can undertake to improve health conditions.

Levels of Evidence

The need to answer the PICOT question led to the discussion with the EBSCOhost to get the response. The question inserted in the search section was, 'What are the strategies to reduce stress among the emergency room nurses? One of the articles found to give explanations on how to enhance general health safety in the role of the nurses to reduce the rate of stress. The article by Cardoso & Jordão gives that emergency room nurses engage in numerous activities that even go to the extent of denying them time to relax. This is because patients who are battling with their lives frequent them. Therefore, the failure to address such patients can make the respective nurse feel like a failure. Besides, these nurses experienced all sorts of violence, mutilation, extreme suffering of the patients, anger, and even death of the clients. The nurses are also present in the resuscitation room where they experience can cause both psychic and emotional disturbance to the nurse. Marques, Balle & Curado, note that emergency room nurses experience more stress than nurses operating in the other units do.

The other cause of stress to the emergency room nurses is drawn from the fact that they are needed to establish an instant decision that may be life and death decision concerning critical clients. This led to the statement that such nurses are susceptible to occupational stress. Hence, such nurses execute their roles in departments that can adversely affect their quality of life. Marques, Balle & Curado, add that some of the health complications that such a nurse can experience include hypertension, migraines, and irritable bowel syndrome. Such disturbances can affect the nurse at both work and while on off duty time. The article by Cardoso & Jordão adds that such nurses are susceptible to psychological illnesses such as secondary traumatic stress, chronic fatigues, and nursing turnout, which can also result in stress. This means the quality of life of the emergency room nurses is affected by such health conditions.

Therefore, a continued search at the EBSCOhost gave an article by Varona which provided that the rescuer of the issues bothering the quality of life of the emergency room nurses is physical activity. The article noted physical activity is vital in the management of chronic illnesses such as osteoporosis, high cholesterol level, and cardiovascular disease. Nurses who continue their education attending a nursing school, be it for career, self-realization, and increased income goals, experience even higher levels of stress because they also need to deal with writing college and university level assignments. To have more time for physical exercises and relaxation recommended by the discussed article, students can look for "write my nursing essay" help and address a professional service, such as WriteMyPaperHub. It is much easier to deal with a particular paper when one of the experienced writers shows you how to do it based on your professor's requirements.

Thorin-Trescases et al. who argued that physical activity is imperative in the reduction of anxiety and depression, echo this point. Those nurses who are seen executing physical activity see the importance in the management of the stress levels at work. However, the article by Cardoso & Jordã noted that many emergency room nurses had embraced the sedentary lifestyle. This level of psychic inactivity is detrimental since it has become one of the leading causes of deaths in the world. The article relates that 40% of emergency room nurses in Canadian hospitals engage in physical activity. This tells the seriousness of the issue. Hence, indulging in exercising the mind and the body is pertinent in maintaining mental fitness, which consequently decreases stress. In addition, exercises are essential in the reduction of fatigue thereby improving concentration and alertness. Therefore, there is an overall improved cognitive function when an emergency room nurse engages in physical activity.

The article by Chan et al. informs that stress is an inhibitor, which affects the brain. The rest of the body experiences such effects. The reduction of stress takes the process of the production of endorphins, which acts as painkillers of the mind. Such a chemical is also vital in improving the capability to sleep, which translates to a decrease in stress. Some of the physical exercises that produce endorphins comprise acupuncture, meditation, breathing deeply, and massage therapy . Taking part in aerobic exercises has proved crucial in reducing the overall tension levels. In addition, it has shown signs in the elevation and stabilization of mood. Improvement of self-esteem is also established by the involvement in physical activity.

The biological explanation of how physical activity can assist the nurse is that it improves the ability of the body to apply oxygen. In fact, the activity assists in improving blood flow. Physical activity enables the person to take worries from the mind. Such repetitive motions indulge in exercises promote a focus on the body rather than on the mind. The concentration on the rhythms when one is engaging in psychical exercise produces a sense of optimism and energy. Such focusing initiates clarity and calmness. Other benefits of exercise as noted by Cardoso & Jordão include the strengthening of the immunity that can reduce the risk of infection and illness. Those nurses battling with obesity would benefit from physical activity since it improves the capability to manage weight.

From the volume of evidence from the articles from the EBSCOhost database, it has been established that emergency room nurses are most of the worked out nurses in a facility. This is because not only are they supposed to make speedy decisions, but also engage in witnessing life-challenging events such as the death of a patient. Therefore, they develop depressive symptoms. The failure to engage in psychical activity due to the reliance on sedentary lifestyle makes the matter worse, it makes the nurse develop obesity and other chronic diseases. Therefore, it is imperative for the nurses to engage in physical activities to improve their immune system and control of illnesses.


WRITTEN BY

Brand Voices