The Relationship Between Stress And Grief

This essay will discuss and provide relevant information based on the understanding of stress and grief, also discussing how stress and grief are caused, what the effects are, and how it relates to paramedicine practice. This essay will also mention some research findings such as how paramedics are affected and strategies on coping with stress and grief, while also providing and comparing grief models to see which best suits Paramedic Practice.

Stress is a feeling of being under too much pressure, mentally and emotionally. Unable to cope the outcome on being under so much pressure turns into stress (Williams, 2014). Most paramedics that graduate into this profession have been taught the skills and knowledge required for the job, but lack of
important information about the characteristics of their work (Nirel, Goldwag, Feigenberg, Abadi & Halpern, 2008). The factors that come with the essences of the job has got more to do then recusing and saving lives, and having a love of what’s involved and other variety. Some causes of stress could be paperwork, lack of administrative support to help with paramedics that need support, long hours can also be a major factor as working overtime can affect sleep deprivation and also fatigue that could causes major health problems or accidences. Also imbalance between work and family, where paramedics have to work long hours and can’t afford to spend time with family or friends due to the amounts of effort they put in to the job, and having a comfortable sleep would be the last thing on their mind (Nirel et al, 2008). This could also lead to depression and anxiety if not dealt with. Paramedics do not naturally come with coping mechanisms that help dealing with situations such as being under pressure working under certain conditions, to transitioning from calm situations to emergencies. Most dissatisfaction at work is caused by burnouts, work overload, and poor health. Physical and mental health plays a big role in Para medicine, where as if continuously being under great amounts of stress and pressure would cause most paramedic professionals to change their professions (Nirel et al, 2008).

As Paramedics frequently encounter critical situations and emergency call outs.
Their mental, emotion and physical stability can be affected by encountering these significant call out events (Avraham. N, Goldblatt. H, and Yafe. E, 2014). Some ways of dealing with stress could be regular exercise with a training routine or programme that will help with built up tension and also increase fitness. Having a good diet, eating foods that are healthy and beneficial while avoiding foods that may increase tension such as Foods with high sugar. Also another way that can help with stress is relaxation, which helps with reducing muscle tension throughout the body. Some techniques could be, yoga, Meditation or even a massage. Taking stress courses could also be an option if it feels that being under constant pressure of stress is an issue. In extreme measures, if stress levels do not reduce or simply cannot cope. Simply consulting with a Medical doctor could be an option as short-term medication will be subscribed but closely monitored by the subscribing doctor (Southern Cross Medical Library, n.d). The Employee Assistance programme [EAP] (2014) is one of the best organizations that provides the best care and support in the ambulance sector (2014). Some of the services EPA provides are services like, Face-to-face counselling appointment, 24/7 phone counselling for crisis situations or traumatic workplace incidents, 24/7 manager phone advisory service, to help resolve staffing and
workplace issues, Mediation or conflict resolution services, which can be arranged by managers or Workforce Group support sessions for staff following traumatic workplace incidents, which can be arranged by managers, Workforce, or PSOs. (2014). Midwifes that are under pressure with stress or being filed a complaint and things become tough. Midwifes are encouraged to seek for help from friends or family to talk about the tragic events and see if there is any support or guidance they can help with. Also midwifes are encouraged by their organization to seek help from NZCOM if situations are getting tough and in need of one on one counselling, this service is also supported by EAP which focus on employees well-being. Comparing midwifes and paramedics in need for support. It shows that EAP is its main support for paramedics as it’s a direct service that is strongly supported for ambulance services, well also support midwifes with a few services such as one on one counselling. But midwifes also have their own kind of support specifically for their type of profession, run by the NZCOM that strongly supports midwifes through rough situations and give them the support or services required in order to overcome distress situations from work.
Grief models are models created by health professionals or Theorist to help understand what grief is and what ways are more effective in dealing with grief (Grief theories and models, 2008). (Kulbler-ross, 1969) identifies five linear stages of grief that most individuals encounter and are now familiar with, which are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Originally Kulbler-ross developed this model to show the process of grief associated to death, but realised and made the model accountable for any type of grief situations. Also another grief model developed by a psychologist named J.W. Worden created a stage-based model for copying with death of spouses which he referred to calling his model The Four Tasks of Mourning. The steps J.W. Worden created were, accepting the reality of the loss, work through the pain of grief, adjust to life without the deceased and maintain a connection to the deceased while moving on with life.

Comparing both models, showed that Kulbler-ross explained the emotion stages individuals’ face when dealing with grief or death of a loss. J.W Worden, identifies the stages and process individuals have to go through in order to cope or deal with a grief situation such as death of loss or any other situation. Relating these models to paramedicine practice, would be beneficial as most front line paramedics encounter many horrific emergencies which sometimes affect their job and their lives some way or another. Without much support by the company most paramedics are left traumatised and affected by what they face on a daily bases. Which leaves to the conclusion of using these grief models to help overcome mental, emotional and physical well-being when facing situations that are difficult to cope with. Using Kulble-ross Model could help paramedics understand the signs of grieving when dealing with a death of a loss, also understanding that the emotions that they face when dealing with this situation is completely normal. Once paramedics understand this, it would give time to reflect on the event that they have just experience and find ways to coping or dealing with their emotions. But Using J.W. Wordens model would be much easier as it explains the specific stages when dealing with grief, it also shows the changes of what you have to go through in order to be mentally stable. This will help paramedics as they can see the progression of what they go through, to how the outcome should be once it’s been dealt with. So for future preferences paramedics can reflect on the same type of event if not reflect on this model to show understand on how grief works and the processes you have to go through.

Strategies with assisting individual’s dealing with stress could be, talking to friends or family or colleagues about a loss or emotions, accept feelings, take care of the ones you love around you and celebrate the ones that are alive around you (Gresham & Klontz, 2015).
Cultures have very distinctive and unique ways of dealing with grief, for example Hispanic follow traditional ways to help cope such as using comfort from extended families and some cultures such as Jewish refer to religious rituals, asking for help from the disciples to guide that soul in accordance to the Jewish culture (Philip, 2013). Due to the experiences paramedics face on a daily bases, paramedics have little knowledge on what’s involve for the job which leads to paramedics suffering depression and anxiety (Avraham et al, 2014). Also paramedics are not aware of the support services they have, which may lead to majority of paramedics dealing with issues alone without seeking any help or support. Resulting to this paramedics have poor managing strategies when coming across grief, even when services and programmes are available paramedics won’t be able to seek help due to the amounts of hours they have to work, which also adds up to their stress (Avraham et al,
2014).

Through the essay conducted I have provided relevant information about stress and grief, and also how stress and grief is caused and the effects of it in paramedicine practice. Also researching I have found relevant information on some strategies of how to cope with stress and grief while also providing grief models to show understanding on how stress and grief is dealt with and services provide into paramedicine practice.