Abstract
BackgroundBecause of the lack of anesthesia workforce, anesthesiologists are forced to work overtime and more night shifts, which can disturb their biological rhythm and cause severe stress and depression, potentially leading to negative and even devastating outcomes for both themselves and patients. Virtual reality (VR), a new method to reduce stress and pain for patients, has been widely used in biomedical fields. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential effectiveness of VR technology in reducing stress among night-shift anesthesiologists.MethodsIn this randomized controlled, crossover, single-center clinical trial, a total of 30 anesthesiologists will be enrolled and randomized in a 1:1 allocation to either the VR immersion group (intervention group) or the routine night-shift group (control group) with a washout of 1 week. Anesthesiologists in the intervention group will undergo VR immersion twice, while anesthesiologists in the control group will not watch VR videos during the night shift. The primary outcome will be the difference in the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) score between the two groups. Secondary outcomes will include the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS), perceived stress scores (visual analogue scale (VAS)), and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) scores; levels of satisfaction among the participants; incidence of arrhythmia; and incidence of chest tightness, headache, and palpitations.DiscussionIt is unknown whether the use of VR technology during the night shift can reduce stress among anesthesiologists. With the widespread use of VR technology, a positive result in this trial could spur hospitals to apply VR technology to reduce stress among night-shift doctors in every department and provide a relatively relaxed working environment.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000031025. Registered on 21 March 2020
Highlights
Because of the lack of anesthesia workforce, anesthesiologists are forced to work overtime and more night shifts, which can disturb their biological rhythm and cause severe stress and depression, potentially leading to negative and even devastating outcomes for both themselves and patients
The lack of first-line doctors leads to more work overload and night shifts, which disturbs the biological rhythm and causes severe stress and depression [4, 5]
When anesthesiologists are under high levels of stress for a long time, there may be negative or even devastating outcomes for the patients
Summary
Because of the lack of anesthesia workforce, anesthesiologists are forced to work overtime and more night shifts, which can disturb their biological rhythm and cause severe stress and depression, potentially leading to negative and even devastating outcomes for both themselves and patients. The lack of first-line doctors leads to more work overload and night shifts, which disturbs the biological rhythm and causes severe stress and depression [4, 5]. Due to long working hours, work overload, chronic sleep deprivation, the need for sustained vigilance, continuous noise pollution and even halitosis among patients [6], and the risk of COVID-19 [7], anesthesiologists face high levels of job-related stress [8, 9], which causes anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, memory and attention problems, nightmares, the need for medication, and so on [10, 11]. An intervention that could reduce stress among night-shift anesthesiologists could be valuable in enhancing medical safety and protecting the health of the anesthesiologists
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
