PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1568430
This article is part of the Research TopicNovel Intervention Models Transcending Borders for Stress Management - Volume IIIView all 6 articles
An integrated neurophenomenological framework for naturalistic assessment of work-related stressors in healthcare professionals: a pilot study in neuro-surgery
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milano, Italy
- 2IRCCS Carlo Besta Neurological Institute Foundation, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
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Work-related stress and burnout are pervasive challenges in healthcare, particularly in high-stakes specialties like neurosurgery. Neurosurgeons face unique demands, including prolonged cognitive and physical strain, emotionally charged patient interactions, and ethical dilemmas. These stressors significantly impact individual well-being, patient safety, and organizational efficiency. However, traditional stress assessment methods, such as self-reports and retrospective surveys, fail to capture the dynamic and context-specific nature of stress in real-world clinical environments. This paper introduces an integrated neurophenomenological framework for assessing stress in neurosurgeons, combining continuous physiological monitoring with real-time phenomenological assessments using experience sampling methods (ESM). Wearable devices enable the collection of granular physiological dataheart rate, heart rate variability, electrodermal activity, and skin temperaturewhile ESM provides real-time subjective insights, reducing recall biases. Synchronizing these data streams offers a holistic understanding of stress dynamics. A pilot study is introduced to discuss the feasibility of this approach. Participants engaged in ward-based and surgical tasks while their physiological data were continuously recorded. Structured interviews and psychometric tools complemented these measures, revealing context-specific stress responses: higher electrodermal activity during emotionally demanding ward shifts and elevated heart rate during physically intense surgical procedures. Discrepancies between physiological activation and subjective stress perception highlighted the importance of interoceptive awareness in modulating stress responses. This framework offers a replicable model for advancing stress research in healthcare. By integrating physiological and phenomenological data, it provides actionable insights into stress dynamics, paving the way for targeted interventions to enhance resilience and optimize patient care.
Keywords: Work-related stressors, healthcare, Neurosurgery, experience sampling, Autonomic markers, wearables, neurophenomenology
Received: 29 Jan 2025; Accepted: 10 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Crivelli, Pellencin, Perin and Balconi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Davide Crivelli, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milano, 20123, Italy
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