Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Occupational Stress among the Intensive Care Unit Nurses

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Nurses working in the intensive care units (ICU) are faced with numerous stressors that can pose a serious threat to their self-efficacy and affect the quality of care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on the ICU nurses’ occupational stress. METHODS: This interventional study was conducted in a hospital in southeast of Iran. The participants included 120 nurses, who were randomly assigned into the control (n = 60) and intervention (n = 60) groups. In the pre-test, the occupational stress was assessed using Osipow questionnaire. Later, the intervention group attended the CBT course conducted in six 90 minute sessions. One month after the intervention, the post-test data were collected from both groups. RESULTS: The means of occupational stress and its dimensions were not significant before the intervention between the intervention and control groups (P = 0.47). The means of occupational stress and its dimensions were moderately high at pretest for all nurses. In the post-test, the stress level and all its dimensions reduced from moderate-high to moderate-low (P < 0.001), except for the physical environment dimension that remained at the moderate-high level (P = 0.32). CONCLUSION: The findings showed that CBT was effective on the nursing stress. Therefore, CBT training is suggested in in-service training programs for nurses.