Abstract

Introduction and Background

Emergency department staff often face job-related stress, which can lead to burnout, reduced compassion satisfaction, and adverse effects on patient care. Loma Linda University Health (LLUH) offers support programs, including Care for the Caregiver (C4C) and the Living Whole Employee Wellness program, that provide emotional and general wellness resources. While these programs are helpful, they do not offer practical solutions for everyday stress. There is a need for simple, lasting, and food-based ways to help staff manage stress and perform better. Recent research shows that eating patterns, especially high intake of processed carbohydrates, can alter energy and mood. In contrast, eating fewer carbohydrates (less than 130 grams per day) may help improve metabolic stability, lower inflammation, and support better stress management.

Methodology

Staff in the emergency department at Loma Linda University Medical Center participated in a brief nutrition education program focused on low-carbohydrate eating. The program was delivered via via a narrated PowerPoint, and additional digital materials were sent via email. Using the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Model, the project looked at changes in stress, dietary awareness, and compassion satisfaction over four weeks. Data was collected before and after the program using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Emergency Nurses Eating Habits Scale (ENEHS), and the Professional Quality of Life Scale–Compassion Satisfaction Subscale (ProQOL-CS). Right after the education, feedback was collected using the CDC Post-Course Evaluation Tool, and a follow-up assessed delayed impact and participant satisfaction.

Results

The results showed that after the intervention, participants had greater dietary awareness, healthier eating habits, higher compassion satisfaction, and greater satisfaction with the program. ENEHS scores went up from pre-intervention (M = 3.23 ± 0.58) to post-intervention (M = 3.78 ± 0.84). Participants reported planning meals more often, eating fewer sugary foods, being more aware of carbohydrates, and having a better understanding of how nutrition affects stress and mental clarity. Compassion satisfaction scores also rose from pre-intervention (M = 3.85 ± 0.51) to post-intervention (M = 4.08 ± 0.64). While overall perceived stress scores stayed about the same, more participants were in the low-stress group after the intervention, and fewer were in the high-stress group. Participants also said they were very satisfied with the program and found the education relevant and useful for their work.

Conclusion

This project suggests that a brief, low-cost nutrition education program may be a feasible way to support emergency department staff wellness in a high-stress work environment. The improvements in dietary awareness, eating habits, and compassion satisfaction suggest that simple, lifestyle-based programs can help build workforce resilience and improve professional well-being. This approach may complement current employee wellness programs by giving staff realistic strategies to manage shift-related stress, support job satisfaction, and maintain professional well-being in busy clinical settings.

Keywords: Occupational stress, emergency department, low-carbohydrate diet, nutrition education, burnout, compassion satisfaction

LLU Discipline

Nursing

School

School of Nursing

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Year Degree Awarded

2026

Date (Title Page)

Summer 2026

Language

English

Type

Doctoral Project

Page Count

112 p., 1 p.

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

Download

Share

COinS