Preliminary Development of Items for a Nurses' Physical Environmental Stress Scale

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Environmental Psychology
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses face significant work-related stress due to factors like heavy workloads and long hours.
• The physical environment of ICUs may contribute to nurse stress, but a tool to assess these environmental factors is lacking.
• Environmental design interventions show potential for mitigating nurse stress, highlighting the need for assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a preliminary Nurses' Physical Environmental Stress Scale (NPESS).
• To explore the relationship between the ICU physical environment and work-related stress in nurses.
• To create a tool for identifying environmental stressors and supports in ICU settings.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory sequential methodology was employed for tool development.
• Phases included qualitative content analysis of focus group data and healthcare literature.
• The preliminary NPESS tool was developed and refined through interviews with ICU nurses.

Main Results:

• The preliminary Nurses' Physical Environmental Stress Scale (NPESS) was developed.
• The NPESS tool contains 81 items across seven sections: sounds, lighting, smells, respite spaces, workspaces, patient rooms, and aesthetics.
• These items address potential moderators of environmental stress within ICU settings.

Conclusions:

• The NPESS offers a feasible method for evaluating ICU environments to reduce nurse stress.
• The tool can identify specific environmental factors contributing to or alleviating stress.
• Further research is planned to validate the NPESS's reliability and validity with a larger nurse sample.