Background During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, emergency departments and fever clinics nurses acted as gatekeepers to the health care system. To manage the psychological problems that these nurses experience, we should develop appropriate training and intervention programs. Objective To identify the impact of COVID-19 on the psychology of Chinese nurses in emergency departments and fever clinics and to identify associated factors. Methods This online cross-sectional study recruited participants through snowball sampling between 13 February and 20 February 2020. Nurses self-administered the online questionnaires, including a general information questionnaire, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale-14, and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. Results We obtained 481 responses, of which 453 were valid, an effective response rate of 94.18%. Participants who had the following characteristics had more mental health problems: female gender, fear of infection among family members, regretting being a nurse, less rest time, more night shifts, having children, lack of confidence in fighting transmission, not having emergency protection training, and negative professional attitude. Conclusion Effective measures are necessary to preserve mental health of nurses in emergency departments and fever clinics. These include strengthening protective training, reducing night shifts, ensuring adequate rest time, and timely updating the latest pandemic situation.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic poses a major threat to global public health and economic development. Moreover, it has put considerable psychological pressure on nurses, who have played a vital role in the prevention and control of the epidemic. Objective: This qualitative study aimed at exploring the experiences and psychological adjustments of nurses who voluntarily traveled to Hubei Province in China to provide support during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: We conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with twelve nurses recruited from three hospitals in Jiangsu Province and performed qualitative content analysis of the interview data. Results: The following themes emerged from the analysis: (1) motivations for supporting the hardest-hit areas (professional commitment, family support, and media propaganda); (2) challenges faced during the support missions (heavy workloads, changes in working patterns, communication barriers, and barriers associated with wearing personal protective equipment); (3) psychological experiences (a sense of uncertainty, fear of infection, loneliness, stressful events, and sleep disorders); (4) psychological adjustments (adequate training and personal protective equipment, positive responses to stress, and social support); and (5) personal and professional growth (a strong professional identity, a positive work attitude, a perception of expanded possibilities, realization of the value of learning, and cherishing life). Conclusions and Recommendations: Policy makers and nursing managers should implement effective measures for supporting nurses. They include ensuring adequate workforce preparedness for nurses, strengthening protection training, including professional psychologists in support teams, encouraging nurses to apply self-regulation methods, such as exercising and listening to music, and seeking social support to promote mental health.

Background COVID-19 poses a great challenge to the global health system. The nurses of emergency and fever outpatient (EFO) act as gatekeepers to the health care system in the public health response to COVID-19 epidemic. This study examined the psychological impact of COVID-19 upon EFO nurses in Chinese hospitals. Methods In midmonth of February, 2020, convenience sampling was used to recruit EFO nurses from hospitals in Jiangsu Province. Data were obtained by self-administered online questionnaires, which consisted of a general questionnaire, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Perceived Stress Scale-14 and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire. A total of 481 questionnaires were returned and 453 valid questionnaires were recovered. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the influence of socio-psychological and working condition factors on anxiety, stress and stress coping tendency. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the associations among anxiety, stress and coping tendency. Results Among the participants, 281(62.03%) had no anxiety symptoms, 154(34.00%) had mild anxiety, 16(3.53%) had moderate anxiety, and 2(0.44%) had severe anxiety. There were 146(32.23%) participants with scores greater than 25 in the PSS, indicating excessive stress. We found that 229(50.55%) participants were more likely to respond positively to stress, while 224(49.45%) were more likely to respond negatively. The models we used included gender, fear of infecting family members, regretting being a nurse, having children, confidence in fighting outbreak, rest time, professional attitudes, having attended infection prevention training, and number of night shifts; and they were all predictors of the mental health of EFO nurses. Pearson correlation showed a positive correlation of the anxiety with stress score (r=0.443, P<0.001), while the coping tendency score was found negatively correlated with anxiety (r=-0.268, P< 0.001) and stress (r=-0.503, P< 0.001). Conclusion COVID-19 has a certain psychosocial impact upon EFO nurses. Effective measures, such as strengthening protection training, adequate nurses for emergency and fever clinics, reducing night shifts, and timely updates of latest epidemic situation, should be taken. Moreover, greater attention should be paid to female EFO nurses and nurses with children.