Impact of Stress and Sleep Management on Emergency Professionals

Recovery Optimisation in Emergency Medicine Addressing Stress Adaptation Techniques

The investigators hypothesize that a recovery management program could have an impact on emergency nurses and physicians by improving their sleep and reducing their psychological and physiological responses when dealing with stressful situations during their professional practice. The REST study consists in developing a recovery management program for emergency professionals. The following strategies would be proposed :

• sleep management according to their schedules by anticipation and recovery,
• stress management through cardio-feedback techniques (cardiac coherence) also called controlled breathing techniques and mental imagery.

The objectives are to evaluate the impact of this program on the physiological and psychological stress of the emergency professionals during their professional activity, as well as on their sleep. To do so, their respiratory and heart rates, as well as their activity and resting times will be recorded continuously for one week. At the end of each shift, the emergency professionals will report and evaluate the 3 most stressful events.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Nurses or physicians
• In current position for at least one year
• Full time or minimum three shifts per week
• Location: Emergency Department of the Edouard Herriot Hospital or the South Lyon Hospital
• Free and informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Caregivers on leave during the enrollment period
• Pregnant, parturient or breastfeeding caregivers
• Participation in another study