Since nobody has answered this question research may shed some light on ICU stress:
Patients' and health care providers' perception of stressors in the critical care units. Abuatiq, Alham. ProQuest Information & Learning, 2014. AAI3571363.
Findings: the top three most stressful items ranked by the patients included: "Being in pain", followed by "Not Being able to sleep" and "Financial worries"; on the other hand, health care providers perceived "Being in pain", followed by "Not being able to communicate", and "Not being in control of yourself" as the top three stressors perceived by their patients. Communication, pain management, encouraging the presence of family, and environmental control were the major strategies in health care providers' management of patients' stressors. Study implications: ICU staff can manipulate the ICU environment to be less stressful.
Understanding workplace reciprocity of emergency nurses: A qualitative study Corcoran, Christine M.. City University of New York, ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2014. 3612399.