Effect of Nursing Reassurance on Patient Vocal Stress Levels

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Abstract
To compare effect of two types of nursing reassurances on patient anxiety or stress, as measured vocally by the Psychological Stress Evaluator, 23 subjects with confirmed pregnancies were interviewed by two registered nurses regarding their concerns about hospitalization. Each subject served as her own control. Vocal stress was measured from audiotapes of the nurse-subject interactions. Fourteen subjects received “knowledgeable” (R2) reassurance; nine received “superficial” (R1) reassurance. Both types of nursing reassurances seemed to be effective with regard to vocal stress patterns. Three subjects who received knowledgeable reassurance showed decreased vocal stress; no subjects who received superficial reassurance showed decrease. There were no significant differences in the interaction length among the three groups of vocal stress patterns of subjects who received knowledgeable reassurance or between the two groups who received superficial reassurance. The data suggested that differences in vocal stress did not result from more or less talking by the subjects. Distribution of vocal stress changes observed in both types of reassurance led to investigation of the patient variable of denial as a possible explanation for the reason why knowledgeable reassurance was associated with increases in vocal stress for some subjects. The results suggest that knowledgeable reassurance may be more beneficial regarding the reduction of stress than superficial reassurance, but only for subjects who do not utilize denial or avoidance as a coping mechanism. The study indicated that, for the majority, one of the benefits of academically promulgated knowledgeable reassurance is probably not the immediate reduction of subject anxiety or stress.

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