Impact of Stress on Paramedics - Assignment Example

?Impact of Stress on Paramedics My is Almutairi Abdullah. I am a paramedic in Saudi Red Crescent Society, and a at Flinders (Paramedic). This paper seeks to explore the impact of work-related stress on paramedics in terms of job performance and overall well-being. This will be done through one-on-one interviews with four highly-experienced paramedics in order to gather qualitative responses on the impact of stress on paramedics. In order to gather a focused set of responses, the questions are developed around the data presented by available literature stating that stress affects not only job performance, but also the health of the individual. The position of a neutral academic researcher will again be adopted, just like in the previous researches, to ensure objectivity all throughout the research. Also, the interviews will be voluntary and the respondents are allowed to decline from participating, thus the only ethical issue is the aim for balance between respondent anonymity and respondent identification for authenticity. Questions for Interview 1. How does work-related stress impact you during non-working days, during days/times you are with your family or friends, and times you spend for personal matters? 2. How does work-related stress impact you during working days? 3. Had there been any minor or major life incident that you went through because of stress? 4. Had there been any minor or major health effect you went through because of stress? 5. Had the impact of work-related stress on you impacted other people in your life? Explain. Paramedic Answers Zafer 1. How does work-related stress impact you during non-working days, during days/times you are with your family or friends, and times you spend for personal matters? There are thoughts about unfinished work and the future, but without the drive for action. Sometimes I get into sudden low-feeling so I am unable to finish what I planned for the day, and then suddenly hurry to complete it. 2. How does work-related stress impact you during working days? Usually I spend night having difficulty in sleeping, so I go to work feeling restless and tired with low-drive. 3. Had there been any minor or major life incident that you went through because of stress? I experienced financial difficulty because of stress. My sleep habits became disrupted and it affected my work attendance and my other side works badly. So it also affected my income in a way. 4. Had there been any minor or major health effect you went through because of stress? Yes. As I mentioned it was my sleep that was really disrupted. My sleeping habits were bad during that time. I experienced feelings of fatigue the whole day and I lost appetite. I experienced headaches almost every other day then. 5. Had the impact of work-related stress on you impacted other people in your life? Explain. My family were worried for me. I know they went out of their way to accommodate me during those times. So it was not just me who got affected by the stress. If I look back now I think they even got stressed because of me. Khalil 1. How does work-related stress impact you during non-working days, during days/times you are with your family or friends, and times you spend for personal matters? I lose self-control more than usual when I was under stress. Usually I do something I wouldn't normally do like get angry at small things, or raise my voice just because I got annoyed. And it was often that I got annoyed. 2. How does work-related stress impact you during working days? I always worry, even during work. I keep going back to the negative events I saw, and then sometimes I imagine even worse things. It's like I push myself to think of all the negative and add to it, only to feel choked after. During work, it caused me to lose attention. 3. Had there been any minor or major life incident that you went through because of stress? I requested for change in work shift many times because I thought it will help me gain focus. I think I lost focus not only because of deep thinking, but also because of lack of sleep. But the working hours shift did not help. 4. Had there been any minor or major health effect you went through because of stress? Lack of appetite and weight loss. I also experienced migraines a lot. I think I was also prone to illnesses then because I remember I got colds easily, or sore throat. I even stopped doing my gym training because I always felt tired or sick. 5. Had the impact of work-related stress on you impacted other people in your life? Explain. Maybe not really, because I live alone. But I rarely socialize with my colleagues anymore. I felt like I'm always sick or tired or sleepy. I think some of them tried to reach out to see what's wrong, but I felt disconnected with them that time. Moussa 1. How does work-related stress impact you during non-working days, during days/times you are with your family or friends, and times you spend for personal matters? I worry a lot. They said I became paranoid. I always tell people around me how to take care and avoid injuries or accidents. I easily got agitated when one of my family members get into small accidents. I was very high-strung. 2. How does work-related stress impact you during working days? As I said, I was high-strung then. I even interrupt people a lot of times when they talk. I also experienced stomachaches a lot of times, and usually all of a sudden, during missions. It was very uncomfortable because I know I'm physically fit and I rarely feel bothering physical things under normal conditions. 3. Had there been any minor or major life incident that you went through because of stress? There was a point when I almost dragged my family to move to a different residence because I got paranoid about the conditions of the house, etc. Sometimes I also worry too much about other people's problems and I think it was annoying how I tried to probe more than I should. 4. Had there been any minor or major health effect you went through because of stress? Stomachaches were usual then. Also, maybe because of sleep disturbance sometimes, I woke up with body aches or something, especially around my joints and muscles. 5. Had the impact of work-related stress on you impacted other people in your life? Explain. A lot. I fought a lot and argue a lot with people. Sometimes I even got annoyed of normal things that usually do not annoy me. My patience really got thin but I think it was a repercussion of the physical ills and aches I often felt during that time. Abed 1. How does work-related stress impact you during non-working days, during days/times you are with your family or friends, and times you spend for personal matters? I spent less time with my friends and family then. I felt like I don't want to socialize. I don't know why, but I felt low, or maybe tired. And I think I worry a lot then. I also know I was sad a lot of times. 2. How does work-related stress impact you during working days? Even at the start of the shift I felt tired already. I only felt the rush when there was a mission. And then after that, I got into thinking over and over what I witnessed. It was like I replay in my mind what I saw, and I kept remembering how it felt when I was there. 3. Had there been any minor or major life incident that you went through because of stress? Nothing much I think. They were more like self-induced isolation from other people. I felt detached, I wanted company to feel lighter, but I didn't feel like I have the energy to socialize. 4. Had there been any minor or major health effect you went through because of stress? Maybe my sleeping and eating habits. I'd say they changed a lot. Sometimes I eat a lot and sleep less, or I eat less and just sleep and sleep. And I remember not eating on time and sleeping at normal hours. I had a minor injury because of sleepiness and being distracted. I dropped things a lot too that time, and bumped myself a lot 5. Had the impact of work-related stress on you impacted other people in your life? Explain. Maybe. When you live with your family they sort of know the “normal” you, so when there are changes, they get concerned. They think you have a problem, and maybe I really had. But I don't talk a lot because even I don't understand why I was always detached and out of focus. According to Interviews' Answers Stress may be a commonly thrown-around word in almost any place and among almost any group of people. However, no matter how common this affliction is in everyday vocabulary, on should not consider stress as something that can be shrugged off. Stress, for one, is not easy to diagnose, because it usually takes a while before one can really say he or she is going through work-related stress. This is one reason why prevention is crucial especially among people in the paramedics industry. The first question provides answers that show how emotional disturbance usually affect the respondents even while away from work. Respondents feel either very low or high-strung, worried or annoyed a lot. Whatever emotional imbalances they may have gone through, there is the fact that they realize now that what they were feeling during those times were not their normal emotional state when not under stress, and it affects their normal activities. The second question provides insights on how stress can impact work-related activities. The usual responses are lack of focus and feelings of fatigue and tiredness. This is because most of the respondents report sleep disturbances or changes in sleeping habits. Sometimes, physical pains such as stomachaches or being prone to illnesses affect their work performance as well. The third question provides answer to any life event, which is usually a major change or impact, they experienced because of stress. The responses given show that people under stress are prone to the lack of ability to perform perfectly at work, causing them to request for change in working hours. Sometimes, one may become too worried and want to move to a different house. These may be the domino-effects of the emotional disturbances they have been going through such a worry, paranoia, detachment, annoyance, etc. The fourth question provides crucial insights on the health impact of stress on the interviewed paramedics. Reported answers range from loss of appetite, lack of sleep, sleep disturbances, headaches, body aches, and being prone to illnesses. Loss of weight was also reported, along with minor injuries and accidents such as getting bumps often and dropping things accidentally. The fifth question aims to explore how stress may impact even the people immediately surrounding the afflicted person. It is reported that more often than not, immediate family members, colleagues, and friends get impacted by stress. In summary, all the responses given are, in one way or another, linked to other effects of stress. For example, health impact may result in poor job performance, and emotional disturbances may result in having other people affected by a change in the attitude or temperament of the stress-afflicted person. Profile Table for the Participants Name Years of Employment / Experience Age Department / Role Data Collected Zafer 6 31 Operations interview Khalil 7 34 Ambulance interview Moussa 5 30 Ambulance interview Abed 7 32 Operations interview Face Sheet for Interviews Participant Profile Experience/age/role 6/31/operations Research Topic / Question Impact of stress on paramedics Interview Number 1 of 4 Date 26/04/2012 Place of interview Respondent’s work station Relevant info Based on developed research questions, the respondents were interviewed on their experiences on the impact of work-related stress in their personal and professional lives, as well as overall well-being. Respondents were chosen randomly, but only those who had been diagnosed with stress and gone through intervention/treatment were asked to participate. Informed consent from the participants were obtained prior to the interview, and participation is voluntary. Also, participants were asked for their willingness to be identified, whether it happens in the research paper or not. Special comments The interview questions were developed around data from previous researches done on the topic, available literature, and commonly-known and accepted facts. Issues Emerging from this interview The symptoms are so common that it takes a while to diagnose An impact, be it physical or mental, starts from emotional imbalances / disturbances Stress impacts the health of the person Paramedics under stress seemed to show feelings of detachment from the real world Prevention is the best control initiative They are able to cope more when they come prepared . Stress impacts can either be physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral or a combination Stress impacts job performance Stress affects even the people around the personnel like colleagues, friends, and family Prevention of stress through psychological preparedness is the best management approach Issues to be followed up in the next interview What makes them more prone or less prone to stress, after going through stress themselves? How do thy deal with the similar mission/s that induce stress in their lives before? Does experience teach them how to become more prepared? Does experience lessen their susceptibility to stress? Is there such a thing as relapse? After they go through stress management, are they more prone to stress now than before? Read More