Bolstering group cohesion & reducing stress through implementation of Stress First Aid

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Psychiatry
• Quality Improvement

Background:

• Work-related stress is a significant issue for healthcare workers (HCWs).
• Identifying and mitigating stress is crucial for HCW well-being and performance.
• Existing interventions may not fully address the complexities of workplace stress in psychiatric settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of Stress First Aid (SFA) in helping HCWs identify and mitigate work-related stress.
• To assess the impact of SFA training on perceived stress, self-efficacy, and group cohesion among psychiatric unit employees.

Main Methods:

• A quality improvement project involving SFA training for all psychiatric unit employees.
• Administration of surveys at four timepoints to measure perceived stress, self-efficacy, and program outcomes.
• Statistical analysis to determine the significance of changes in measured variables.

Main Results:

• Perceived stress significantly declined after the first post-training survey and remained sustained.
• No significant changes were observed in self-efficacy across the four timepoints.
• Group cohesion showed a significant improvement from pre-training to 3 months post-training.

Conclusions:

• Stress First Aid (SFA) is an evidence-based intervention that effectively assists HCWs in identifying stress.
• SFA positively impacts group cohesion within healthcare teams.
• SFA demonstrates potential for sustained reduction of work-related stress among HCWs.