Response to the following: As an ICU nurse, there is a higher stress level that

Response to the following:
As an ICU nurse, there is a higher stress level that impacts nurses on many levels such as physical, mental and emotional stress. Stressors are harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources which causes tension (Moreno Fortes et al., 2020). Due to the patient acuity and the work demand in the ICU, especially the ICU that I work at which is a medical intensive unit serving diverse population in the city of Atlanta, the well being of nurses are affected as well as patient outcomes. A major healthcare stressor that has impacted the stress level of our intensive care units is COVID-19. Since the existence of COVID-19 in 2020, working in critical care units have caused more stress added on to our work. It is now 2023, and most of our ICU’s cannot catch a break and still getting very sick , intubated COVID patients. Although, the pandemic has slowed down, it has definitely not slowed down in our critical care units. Stress has impacted nurses and the outcome of patient care negatively. This has caused burnouts for nurses and has affected the health of many others.
As stated above, I work at the level 1 trauma hospital in Atlanta and since 2020 with the COVID pandemic, the unit has being the most busiest that I have seen. COVID- 19 has increased the work load and stress on the unit. Covid-19 has had a negative impact on the unit in regards to patient outcomes as well. This health issue has caused unsafe working conditions and staffing issues. The turnover for staff is so high it has negatively impacted staffing. Some staff members even lost their lives as a result of this. According to Koutsimani et al. (2019), anxiety, depression and emotional exhaustion are all related to stress at work. All these disorders have been noticed in Individuals on the unit. Aside from causing all of this stress with staff, it has caused many deaths in patients. Many social determinants of health including poverty, physical environment (eg, smoke exposure, homelessness), and race or ethnicity has had a considerable effect on COVID-19 outcomes. According to the textbook, the Quadruple Aim adds another standard that focuses on bettering the work environment of healthcare workers which is very important (Broome & Marshall, 2021).
Our healthcare system has responded to the current healthcare issue/stressor by coming up with many implementations such as infection control protocols. Visitation of family members has also been limited to prevent the spread of the infection. The infection control team make rounds daily to make sure that everyone is adhering to infection control protocols such as proper hand hygiene and appropriate PPE. In regards to staff, in order to limit stress, the hospital has utilized the use of travel nurses to come in and assist in adequate staffing on the unit. Lastly, specifically on my unit, there has now been a relaxation room with aromatherapy to help relieve some of the stress that can be controlled on the unit. Aromatherapy is a simple, convenient and non-invasive method of stress relief. Nurses may be anxious due to critical and emergencies, and anxiety can affect professional performance. Non-pharmacological interventions, as a safe method, can reduce anxiety such as aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is the use of aromatic oils, which makes people relax and reduces anxiety by stimulating the olfactory system and releasing nerve mediators (Zamanifar at al., 2020).