Exploring the emotional situation of health care professionals performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary arrest is an urgent and very stressful situation that negatively affects the emotional state of health care professionals. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the emotional state of health care professionals who either conduct CPR or are present when performing it. Methodology: This is a prospective study conducted in general hospital of Nikaia "Agios Panteleimon". The sample of the study consisted of 200 healthcare care professionals regardless of level of education, who either carried out or participated in the process of CPR. The assessment of the emotional status was done by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales questionnaire, which estimates anxiety, depression and stress. The statistical analysis was done using the statistical package SPSS v.19.0. Results: The study sample consists of 112 registered nurses, 36 assistant nurses and 50 physicians(34 residents and 16 senior) with a mean age (39.8 ± 8.5 years). Of the total sample, 29 (14.5%)respondents had recently visited a mental health care provider. Females had significantly higher levels of depression (p = 0.017) and stress (p = 0.002) in relation to males. Assistant nurses had significantly higher levels of depression (p = 0), stress (p = 0) and anxiety (p = 0.002) compared to other health care professionals. Divorced compared with unmarried and married had significantly higher levels of depression (p = 0.008), stress (p = 0.012) and anxiety (p = 0.002). Nurses had significantly advanced degree of depression (p <0.05), stress (p <0.05) and anxiety (p <0.05) compared to physicians (p <0.05). The emotional health of assistant nurses was significantly worse compared with the others who participated in the study (p <0.05). Health care professionals who felt safe with their knowledge of CPR had significantly lower depression (p = 0.002), stress (p <0.001) and anxiety (p = 0.007), when compared with others. Conclusions: The emotional situation of nurses is more impaired in relation to medical practitioners. The levels of stress, anxiety and depression are much lower to health professionals who feel secure with their knowledge of CPR.