Black P, McKenna H, Deeny P
Intensive Care Unit, Belfast City Hospital, Ireland.
Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 1997 Aug;13(4):209-15. doi: 10.1016/s0964-3397(97)80045-6.
Psychological disturbances that patients may experience during admission to intensive care units (ICUs) can have distressing implications for their emotional and physical integrity, progress and subsequent recovery. It is widely believed by practitioners and reflected in professional literature that these disturbances are precipitated by sensory deprivation or overload in the physical environment of intensive care units. In this paper the sources and mechanism of the sensory imbalances experienced by these patients are examined. A new concept--sensoristrain--has been developed in an attempt to promote awareness and improve understanding of the phenomenon among nurses. Once this has been achieved, assessment and identification of patients at risk are optimized and appropriate interventions can be formulated. Using an eclectic approach to analyse sensoristrain, both causes and effects of the phenomenon have been identified from the literature. This information has been combined with practical examples in the development of a model of the concept sensoristrain. The paper concludes by outlining the resulting implications for nursing practice, which may be used to guide future research both in concept development and identification of effective prevention of the phenomenon conceptualized and interventions if it occurs.
患者在入住重症监护病房（ICU）期间可能经历的心理障碍，会对其情绪和身体的完整性、病情进展及后续康复产生令人痛苦的影响。从业者普遍认为，这些障碍是由重症监护病房物理环境中的感觉剥夺或过载引发的，专业文献中也有相关体现。本文探讨了这些患者所经历的感觉失衡的来源和机制。为提高护士对这一现象的认识并增进理解，提出了一个新概念——感觉负荷过重。一旦实现这一点，就能优化对有风险患者的评估和识别，并制定适当的干预措施。采用折衷方法分析感觉负荷过重，从文献中确定了该现象的原因和影响。这些信息与实际例子相结合，构建了感觉负荷过重概念的模型。本文最后概述了对护理实践的影响，可用于指导未来在概念发展以及有效预防该现象（如已概念化的现象）和发生时的干预措施识别方面的研究。
