Stress check

As stated in the previous sections, nurses engaged in support activities at the shelters are under considerable stress. Stress reactions and their impacts differ among individuals; even in the same situation, some nurses feel stress or are affected by stress more acutely than others. When working in an unusual situation or environment, it is often difficult to make an objective evaluation of your own stress condition. However, if you carry out your duties without recognizing your stress, your feelings and experiences will be left unexpressed, placing yourself at great risk of developing various physical and psychological stress reactions, such as listlessness, helplessness, anxiety and sadness. If these stress reactions are intense or persistent, there is a possibility of developing burnout syndrome or PTSD. It is extremely important to know your own stress condition and stress reactions occurring in your body. It is also important to identify activities that cause stress in your daily activities. Knowing stress-causing activities is essential for continuing activities in a healthy condition.

IES-R (Impact of Event Scale-Revised) is a measure for evaluating the presence of signs and symptoms of PTSD.
It is recommended that from time to time you evaluate your own mental state using this scale.

For details of IES-R (Impact of Event Scale-Revised), refer to the following document.

Asukai,N.,Kawamura,N.,Kim,Y.,Yamamoto,K.,Kishimoto,J.,Miyake,Y.,Nishizono-Maher,A.:Reliability and validity of the Japanese-language version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised(IES-R-J):Four studies on different traumatic event. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 190:175-182,2002.
Weiss,D.S. & Marmar,C.R.: The Impact of Event Scale-Revised. In: Wilson,J.P.,Keane T.M.eds., Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD. The Guilford Press, New York, 1997,p399-411.