The Effect of Imagery on the Stress of Clinical Nurses

심상요법이 간호사의 스트레스에 미치는 효과

All clinical nurses are not only faced with the physical and emotional needs of patients but also exposed to the heavy workload. In clinical settings, the nurses' stress becomes more and more critical. Understanding the stress experienced by nurses is essential for planning programs to enhance patient care and to promote nurses health. Many methods to reduce the stress were practiced for patients. In this study, the investigator examined how the imagery influence the reducing the stress of clinical nurses. For this study, the recorded tape for imagery developed in the Society of Rheumatics was applied. In order to evaluate the effect of imagery on the stress of clinical nurse, stress score, serum cortisol, blood pressure, and pulse were measured on 20 clinical nurses for 20 days. The results were as follows: 1. Stress score decreased significantly in the experimental group. And the rate of decrease in stress score was significantly higher in experimental group than in the control group. 2. The level of serum cortisol decreased significantly after the application of imagery. 3. Systolic blood pressure decreased significantly after the application of imagery. These results indicate that after applying the method of imagery on the nurses, stress score, serum cortisol level, and systolic blood pressure were significantly decreased. Therefore, this study proves that imagery is one of the methods to reduce the stress of clinical nurses.