Investigation of effect of the education to the patients' perception of environmental stresor in the intensive care unit

Intensive care units are units where the treatment, follow-up and care of critically ill patients and technological medical devices are available. The physical conditions, technical equipment and operation of the units create many physical, physiological/psychosocial and environmental stresses for the patients. Stress may prolong the patient's recovery and extend the stay in the intensive care unit and hospitalization duration, causing delay in discharge and complications. In this study, the effect of the education given in the intensive care unit on the level of perception of environmental stressors in the unit was investigated. This study, which was conducted in a quasi-experimental and cross-sectional design, was conducted with 70 patients who were treated in the general intensive care unit of a private hospital in Istanbul and informed consent was obtained. The data of the study were collected using the patient identification form and the Environmental Stressors Scale in the Intensive Care Unit. The patients who were given a neurosurgery decision were trained 24 hours before the operation by using the "Intensive Care Unit Promotion Training" slide presentation in the patient's room, and the slide presentation was reproduced in the form of a brochure after the training and given to the patients. The data of 35 patients (experimental group) and 35 patients who were not given preoperative education (control group) were evaluated in NCSS and SPSS programs. Descriptive statistical analyzes (number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, min-max value), Chi-Square, Mann Whitney U and Kruskall Wallis Tests were used. Ethics committee approval was obtained for the study. It was determined that the mean age of the patients was 39.6±11.23, 51.4% were women, 71.4% were married, 68.6% had children, and 45.7% had a bachelor's degree or higher education level. It was found that the mean score of the Environmental Stressors Scale in the Intensive Care Unit of the patients in the experimental group was lower than that of the control group, and the difference between them was statistically significant (p=0.001; p<0.01). The patients in the experimental and control groups; It was found that the difference between the scale mean scores of 14 stressors such as being tied to tubes, not being comfortable in bed and/or pillow, hearing the phone ringing was statistically significant (p<0.05). In addition to the fact that the patients in both groups were more affected by the stressors of pain and being connected to the tubes; It was found that those in the experimental group were affected more by 10 stressors such as not being able to sleep and those in the control group hearing the sounds and alarms of the machines. It was determined that the difference in the mean scores of the scale according to the age and childbearing characteristics of the patients in the experimental group was statistically significant (p<0.05). In addition, according to all characteristics (sociodemographic, health status and previous hospital experience) of the patients in the experimental group, the mean scores of the scale were found to be lower than the mean scores of the patients in the control group. Suggestions were made to routinely provide introductory trainings about the intensive care unit to patients who are scheduled for surgery, to consider the sociodemographic, health status and previous hospital experience of the patients in the creation of the training content and in the provision of training, and to include these trainings in the institutional policy in the preoperative period. Keywords: Intensive Care, Stressor, Nursing, Patient Education, Neurosurgery