Dear colleague:

Greetings from the medical team and teachers of the Intensive Care Unit in the Los Andes University Hospital (Mérida, Venezuela).

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the ANDES stuy (anxiety, depression, stress).
 


Depression, anxiety and stress are disorders that can occur in the health workers. They affect to the organization outcomes, leading to an increase of labor absenteeism, antagonism between employees, lack of commitment to the Organization, dissatisfaction in work and interpersonal conflicts.

The exercise of the medical profession brings with it great responsibility on the life, health and care for other people. The results of different studies show that work in daily contact with suffering and death, in an environment with numerous demands, can have consequences on the mental health of the professionals.


The study of critical medicine is a well known area that has arisen in last decades as a multidisciplinary specialty that works along with other Medicals and chirurgicals specialities. This area is built over a data base of knowledge where the objective is to maintain vital functions of critical patients through prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all fisiopatological states that endanger their conditions.

The ICU is considered an stressful workplace for all doctors working on it.this condition is due to patients care is associated with professional and ethical situations that needs take decisions in fast and difficult situations that conducts very often to frustration feelings as well as depression and aggressive behavior.

Considering that exist an empty framework of knowledge about the presence of affectionate symptoms in healthcare professionals and also considering the high levels of health employees that demands medical attention of this type, is a priority to address the interest to the evaluation of factors that are involved in the mental health of professionals in ICU.

Having knowledge about their health will help in the definition of actions that reduce this symptoms,contributing to improve their work and also improving the environment in their workplace.

The master in ICU and critical medicine through ICU “Dr. Fernando Gabaldón” in University of Los Andes (Mérida, Venezuela) carry on the initiative about a non experimental, descriptive, correlational and multicentric study in order to define the frequent of symptoms of depression, anxiety and extras in doctors working in intensive care, involving also healthcare employees in nationals and international ICU.

Throughout an anonymous survey, we are invited you to provide us data for achieving a detailed analysis in this research.

We are engaged in providing you the final version of results at the end of this study and also we invite you to share this email with doctors in your service in order to increase the number of participants in this study.


Thank you!

The authors:
Dr. Adriana Delgado. (Pulmonologist therapy- Intensive)
Dr. Elia Figueira. (Psychiatrist)

Contributors:
Dr. Mariflor Vera (Internist)
Dr. Leonardo Diaz (Nephrologist – Intensivist)