A Study to Assess the Factors of Fatigue Among Nurses in Pediatrics Unit and Effectiveness of Warm Water Foot Bath in its Reduction in a Selected Hospital at Durg, Chhattisgarh

Fatigue is one of the frequent occupational health issues that negatively impact physical and psychological health, work productivity and quality of care among nurses. Fatigue is especially problematic for nurses who provide care in pediatric units because of the emotional stress involved in the job, long hours and standing for long periods of time. The present study aimed to assess the factors of fatigue among nurses in pediatrics unit and effectiveness of warm water foot bath in its reduction. A quasi-experimental time-series research design (with pre-test and post-test) was employed. A study was done on 40 nurses in the Pediatric wards of Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, Junwani, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. Twenty nurses from the PICU and NICU were assigned to the experimental group and twenty nurses from the pediatric wards were assigned to the control group. Structured socio-demographic questionnaire, work-related fatigue questionnaire, the Modified Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and the Numerical Fatigue Rating Scale were used to collect data. The findings revealed a significant reduction in fatigue among nurses who received the warm water foot bath intervention. The calculated chi-square values on Days 7, 14, and 21 were 15.17, 17.14, and 17.48, respectively, which were greater than the table value (9.21) at p < 0.01, indicating that the intervention was effective in reducing fatigue. Warm water foot bath is a simple, safe, cost-effective, and non-pharmacological intervention that significantly reduces fatigue among nurses working in pediatric units.