Patient care and daily stress among emergency medical technicians

There is conflicting research regarding the extent to which patient care is a source of stress for emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Some research indicates that it is important, whereas other studies suggest that it takes a "back seat" to administrative and organizational problems. This study sought to explore this issue further by investigating the relationship between caring for patients, daily workday stress, and daily non-workday stress among EMTs.

All EMTs employed by East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services were eligible for participation. After the study was described, subjects completed a demographic information sheet and informed consent was obtained. Participants then completed 30 days of monitoring with a standardized measure of daily stress (the Daily Stress Inventory) and a measure of patient care stress designed for use in this study (Emergency Call Questionnaire).

A very large portion of the variance in the EMTs' overall daily workday stress was associated with patient care (r = 0.677, p < 0.001). Additionally, patient care stress on workdays significantly predicted overall daily stress on the following nonworkday (i.e., postworkday) (r = 0.633, p < 0.001). Finally, EMTs who had stressful pre-workdays rated their patient care as more stressful on the following workday (r = 0.512, p < 0.01).

Results suggest that patient care is a critical factor in daily stress among EMTs, both on workdays and post-workdays, providing preliminary evidence for a carryover effect. Evidence also suggests that stress on the day before work may influence EMTs' perceptions of their patients on workdays.