STRESS REDUCTION PROGRAMS

Instructors Course for Nurses in Stress Reduction Techniques / Stress Reduction for Patients

At the beginning of the 21st century stress is a major problem worldwide associated with anxiety, depression, loss of work and increasingly recognized as a major factor in many diseases, including cancer, diabetes, gastric and heart complaints.

Stress, however, is also an aspect of life from which there is often no obvious escape, a fact particularly so in Israel where an ongoing conflict affects every segment of society.

Hospital staff faced daily with the casualties of an increasingly violent situation, are particularly prone to stress, and as a result tend to suffer from a higher incidence of exhaustion, burn out and psychological problems, than the general population.

As stress becomes a greater and more insidious threat, many people however, are also making a deliberate decision to understand it better and to bring it under control.

NMRU initiated its first Stress Reduction Program in 1996, when 30 nurses, drawn from “high stress units” in the hospital, including Emergency Rooms, Theatre staff and Cardiology, after completing a 5 month training program in relaxation techniques, demonstrated a very positive effect.

Since this time, NMRU has continued to provide a range of series at HMO, including both its popular yoga courses, as well as programs on stress reduction for staff and patients at Hadassah.

Current Stress Reduction Programs

• Instructors Training Course for Nurses in Stress Reduction Techniques (SRT)
• Yoga for Hospital Employees
• Stress Reduction for Patients

Training Courses for Nurses in Stress Reduction Techniques (SRT)

In Nov 2000 with the help of a generous gift, NMRU began a new and important program in Stress Reduction Techniques (SRT), aimed at nurses in Hadassah Hospital. This course, the first of such programs to be accredited by the Ministry of Health for Continuing Education Credits, takes place for 2 hours weekly over an 8 month period, and is attended by 15-20 nurses.

The course has been specially designed for the needs of nurses, by the highly experienced instructor Ms Debbie Eisner.

Participants learn a wide range of Stress Reduction Techniques (SRT), including meditation, relaxation, yoga, visualization and shiatsu, with exercises aimed at giving the nurses both practical experience, as well as a good theoretical understanding of the methods used.

Now in its 4^th year, the overall aim of these programs is to create for the first time at HMO a core group of nurses trained in SRT, who will act as a resource for stress management skills in the hospital, using their own experience to benefit themselves, as well as other staff members and patients.

Initial evaluation by NMRU of the first 3 years of the program have demonstrated significant improvements in participants compared to matched controls (nurses in the same department who do not undertake the SRT course) in perceived stress levels,   general health, well being, and symptoms of low back pain, headaches, anxiety, depression, fatigue and poor sleeping.

Some personal testimonies from participants in the SRT program:

Dr. Nurit Wagner PHD, former director of Nursing at HMO:

“I came to the workshops often really tired, overwhelmed with stress and preoccupied with all the things I still had to do. When I left 2 hours later, I found I had a lot of energy, it was really wonderful to feel this.”

·  From a Chief nurse at, HMO:

“Because of the course I plan to start my staff meetings now with a few minutes of meditation or massage. I believe this really contributes to a positive atmosphere and a good feeling in the department.”

·  Senior nurse Open Heart Surgery:

“I was called into Hadassah the night of the Versaille disaster (when a wedding hall in Jerusalem collapsed with great loss of life). A patient was brought to the emergency room after being buried alive, conscious but shocked and unable to breathe on his own. I worked on him using the relaxation techniques I had learned in the course, and in half an hour his pulse and blood pressure were normal. In 3 days he was discharged. I really do feel that his response and overall quick recovery were due to the exercises we practiced together for that hour in the emergency room.”

Stress Reduction for Patients

As a result of the successful stress reduction programs for staff at HMO, and in response to many requests from physicians, NMRU has prepared new courses, aimed specifically at patients.

The first of these programs, initiated in 2002, was held in conjunction with The Dept. of Gastroenterology, HMO, for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) (Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns Disease) and will continue as an ongoing course during 2002-2003.

The result of this first IBD course is now being evaluated, assessing the effect of Stress Reduction Techniques on levels of perceived stress among patients, as well as physical symptoms and discomforts.