Keywords

Distress, ed, emergency department, eustress, nurse, rn, stress, stressor

Abstract

The Emergency Department (ED) as a workplace for the Registered Nurse (RN) is a stressful environment. Reasons are thought to include interactions with other members of the interdisciplinary team as well as the situations associated with the environment of the ED such as trauma, death, sadness, joy and the general unpredictability of each moment. Studies have documented general health care workplace stress and its influence on staff, but a very limited number of studies have concentrated on the ED. No widely published studies have identified stressors from the perspective of the ED RN. This dissertation is an interpretive phenomenological study that seeks to understand the experience of being an ED RN through the exploration of the perceptions of stress as lived by individuals who practice their art and science in this unique setting. Materials for evaluation and thematic identification were obtained through personal interviews of practicing nurses. The stories told by the participants communicated what each individual found to be negatively stressful as well as what each found to be positively stressful. Conclusions based on the findings of this work suggest a need for the ED RN to be able to depend on the presence of several factors in order to be able to function with as little distress as possible. The optimal ED environment for the RN is posited to be supportive of the individual goals of the RN, provide adequate resources and foster a communicative interdisciplinary environment. Recommendations are made to improve resource management and interdisciplinary relations

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Wink, Diane

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Nursing

Department

Nursing

Degree Program

Nursing

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004384

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004384

Language

English

Release Date

August 2012

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Nursing, Nursing -- Dissertations, Academic

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Included in

Nursing Commons

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