Assessing Workplace Stress Among Nurses Using Heart Rate Variability Analysis With Wearable ECG Device-A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Cardiology
• Nursing Research

Background:

• Workplace stress is a significant concern for nurses, impacting their well-being and patient care.
• Objective measurement of nurse stress using physiological data is crucial for developing effective interventions.
• Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis offers a promising non-invasive method to assess autonomic nervous system responses to stress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate workplace stress levels in nurses using heart rate variability (HRV) analysis.
• To correlate objective HRV-derived stress indicators with subjective stress measurements.
• To explore the influence of work shifts and body posture on nurse stress.

Main Methods:

• 17 nurses from a Chinese hospital (DON and ICU) wore wireless ECG monitors during work.
• Collected physiological data included heart rate, R-R intervals (RRI), low frequency (LF), and high frequency (HF) components.
• Analysis utilized LF%, LnHF, and RMSSD for HRV-based stress estimation, alongside the Chinese Nurses Stress Response Scale (CNSRS).

Main Results:

• Department of Neurosurgery (DON) nurses exhibited higher LF% and lower LnHF/RMSSD compared to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses.
• Long and night work shifts significantly increased stress indicators (LF%, LnHF, RMSSD).
• Specific postures (walking, standing/sitting, lying down) showed correlations with HRV stress markers, and higher LF% correlated with higher CNSRS scores.

Conclusions:

• HRV analysis is a viable tool for objectively measuring workplace stress in nurses under real-world conditions.
• Findings support HRV as a potential preventive measure for identifying stress-related health issues in nursing staff.
• Objective physiological stress markers correlate with subjective reports, validating HRV's utility in occupational health research.