Department of Radiation Disaster Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.
Disaster Medicine Department, Fukushima Medical University Hospital, Fukushima, Japan.
PLoS One. 2022 Sep 14;17(9):e0274482. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274482. eCollection 2022.
Shortages of human resources in radiation emergency medicine (REM) caused by the anxiety and stress of due to working in REM, are a major concern. The present study aimed to quantify stress and identify which tasks involved in REM response are most stressful to help educate (human resource development) and effectively reduce stress in workers. Furthermore, the final goal was to reduce the anxiety and stress of medical personnel in the future, which will lead to sufficient human resources in the field of REM.
In total, 74 nurses who attended an REM seminar were asked to answer a questionnaire (subjective) survey and wear a shirt-type electrocardiogram (objective survey). Then, informed consent was obtained from 39 patients included in the analysis. In the objective survey, average stress values of participants for each activity during the seminar were calculated based on heart rate variability (HRV). The average stress value was output as stress on a relative scale of 0-100, based on the model which is the percentile of the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio derived from HRV at any point in time obtained over time.
A total of 35 (89.7%) participants answered that they had little or no knowledge of nuclear disaster and 33 (84.6%) had more than moderate anxiety. Stress values observed during the decontamination process were significantly higher than those observed when wearing and removing protective gear and during the general medical treatment process (P = 0.001, 0.004, and 0.023, respectively). Stress values did not increase during general medical treatment performed in protective clothing, but increased during the decontamination process, which is the task characteristic of REM.
Stress felt by medical personnel throughout the entire REM response may be effectively reduced by providing careful education/training to reduce stress during the decontamination process. Reducing stress during REM response effectively could contribute to resolving the shortage of human resources in this field.
由于从事辐射紧急医学（REM）工作而产生的焦虑和压力，导致 REM 人力资源短缺，这是一个主要问题。本研究旨在量化压力，并确定 REM 应对中哪些任务对员工压力最大，以帮助进行教育（人力资源开发）并有效降低员工压力。此外，最终目标是减少未来医疗人员的焦虑和压力，从而在 REM 领域提供充足的人力资源。
共有 74 名参加 REM 研讨会的护士被要求回答问卷（主观）调查并佩戴衬衫式心电图（客观调查）。然后，从纳入分析的 39 名患者中获得知情同意。在客观调查中，根据心率变异性（HRV）计算参与者在研讨会期间每项活动的平均压力值。平均压力值以相对量表的形式输出，范围为 0-100，该量表基于 HRV 随时得出的低频/高频比的百分比模型。
共有 35 名（89.7%）参与者表示对核灾难几乎没有或没有了解，33 名（84.6%）参与者的焦虑程度超过中度。在去污过程中观察到的压力值明显高于穿脱防护装备时和一般医疗过程中的压力值（P = 0.001、0.004 和 0.023，分别）。在穿着防护服进行一般医疗治疗时，压力值没有增加，但在去污过程中，即 REM 的任务特征，压力值增加。
通过提供精心的教育/培训，减少去污过程中的压力，可能会有效降低整个 REM 应对过程中医疗人员的压力。有效降低 REM 应对中的压力可能有助于解决该领域人力资源短缺的问题。
