Creating micro-restorative environments for healthcare professionals

根据世界卫生组织(WHO)的说法，压力是“21世纪的健康流行病”。医疗保健是一个压力很大的职业，在全球范围内，专业人员在压力下工作，暴露在压力下，暴露在情感和认知疲劳中，有可能导致职业倦怠。在英国，国民健康服务(NHS)尤其容易出现这些问题，工作人员工作时间长，休息时间短，接触户外自然的机会有限。由于人员短缺、使用需求高和资金紧张，NHS目前正面临着严峻的挑战。因此，帮助处理这一危机的卫生专业人员对于避免因健康不佳而进一步缺勤是至关重要的。为专业护理者提供尽可能好的环境对于患者的好转很重要，因为健康的护理者帮助患者恢复良好的健康。否则，不仅精疲力竭，精疲力竭的医生对病人缺乏同理心，把他们当作物品对待，还会感到自卑。为工作人员提供一个恢复性的环境是避免这种结果的一种方法。恢复性环境是医疗保健专业人员可以去的地方，即使只是他们工作日的一小段时间，也可以放松和恢复，以防止压力和疲劳。文献表明，大自然具有许多恢复能力，能够帮助个人恢复情绪和认知，并防止疲劳和压力水平的增加。根据这项研究，一些知名公司，如谷歌、苹果或亚马逊，已经在他们的工作场所实施了自然环境，以造福他们的员工。在医护人员的工作环境中融入一些自然元素，是否会对他们自己的健康和幸福感产生影响，从而影响他们的压力水平，从而避免他们感到疲惫和疲惫？该博士学位的目的是通过在工作场所创造微型恢复性空间，即通过窗户、沉思绘画、听音乐或看电视与自然进行短暂的感官接触，帮助医护人员减轻压力，避免疲惫。研究将确定适合医疗机构和专业人员的自然环境的潜在恢复性特征，并建议设计一个专门的空间，使工作人员能够在身体和心理上恢复。研究问题包括：对于医疗保健专业人员来说，自然的好处及其恢复潜力是什么？什么样的恢复性环境可以被创造或应用于医疗保健工作场所？暴露在模拟的自然环境中对工作中的医疗保健人员有恢复作用吗？这项研究承认自然对恢复压力很大的人是有益的，这项研究将应用并测试自然是否也可以对医疗保健专业人员起到恢复作用，以及自然是否可以在医疗设施中实施。将与医疗保健专业人员进行定性研究，以确定他们与工作相关的压力源和当前的应对策略。这项研究将专注于研究和识别自然在帮助防止进一步的压力和疲劳方面具有有益特性的压力源；然后探索并提出一些潜在的以自然为中心的解决方案。对于每个解决方案，将对压力较大的学生进行实验研究，以测试潜在的改进。如果可行，所有证实可以改善学生压力水平的自然元素都将在专门建造的“豆荚”中实施，并在医疗保健环境中进行测试。

Stress is the "Health Epidemic of the 21st Century" according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).Healthcare is a highly stressful profession worldwide with professionals working under pressure and being exposed to stress and to emotional and cognitive fatigue, potentially resulting in burn out. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) is particularly prone to these issues, with staff working long hours, having short breaks and limited access to outdoor nature. The NHS is currently facing challenging times due to a shortage of staff, high demand of use, and financial constraints. Therefore, helping health professionals dealing with this crisis is fundamental to avoid further absenteeism due to ill health. Providing the best environment possible for professional carers is important in order for the patients to get better, as healthy carers help patients get back to good health. Otherwise, not only suffering from exhaustion, the doctors who are burn-out have a lack of empathy for their patients, treating them like objects and also suffer from low self-esteem.Providing a restorative environment for staff is one method of avoiding such outcomes. Restorative environments are places where healthcare professionals can go, even if only for short periods of time during their working day, to relax and restore, to prevent stress and fatigue. Literature shows that nature has a number of restorative properties, being able to help individuals with emotional and cognitive restoration and with the prevention of increased fatigue and stress levels. From this research, some high profile companies, such as Google, Apple or Amazon, have implemented natural environments into their workplaces to benefit their employees. Could the incorporation of some natural elements to the work environment of healthcare professionals have an impact on their own health and well-being, therefore on their stress levels, avoiding them to be fatigued and burned-out?The aim of this PhD is to help healthcare professionals de-stress to avoid burn out by creating micro-restorative spaces in their workplace, that is brief sensory contact with nature, as through a window, in contemplating a painting, in listening to music or on a television. Potential restorative qualities of natural environments suitable for healthcare settings and professionals will be identified and utilised to suggest a design for a dedicated space where staff can recover physically and psychologically.The research questions include:. What are the benefits of nature and their restorative potentials for healthcare professionals?. What kind of restorative environments can be created or applied to healthcare workplaces?. Can exposure to simulated natural environments be restorative for healthcare professionals at work?By accepting that nature is beneficial to restore stressed individuals, this research will apply and test if nature can also be restorative for healthcare professionals and if nature can be implemented in healthcare facilities. A qualitative study will be conducted with healthcare professionals to identify their work related stressors and current coping strategies. This research will focus on studying and identifying the stressors where nature can have beneficial properties in helping prevent further stress and fatigue; and then on exploring and suggesting some potential "nature-centred" solutions. For each solution, an experimental study will be conducted on stressed students to test the potential improvements. If feasible, all confirmed natural elements that improved students stress levels will be implemented in a purpose built "pod" and tested in a healthcare environment.