A cross‐sectional study of mental health status and self‐psychological adjustment in nurses who supported Wuhan for fighting against the COVID‐19

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the mental health status, stressors and self-adjustment of nurses in isolation wards at different periods in Wuhan, China. Background: Mental health issues easily occurred among the frontline medical workers of a major epidemic. However, the stressors and psychological adjustments experienced by nurses have not been well described. This is crucial to improving clinical quality and nursing safety and ensuring nurses' physical and psychological health. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional prospective study using the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20, stressor and self-adjustment questionnaire administered to frontline nurses in Wuhan at two time points: after they had worked in isolation wards for 7-10 days (T 1) and 2 months (T 2). This paper complies with the STROBE reporting guideline for cross-sectional studies. Results: T 1 has 92 respondents, and T 2 has 86. The positive rates of mental health problems were 26.09% and 9.30%, respectively, showing significantly different in the two periods. The main factors influenced mental health were self-perceived stress and only child status. The most common stressors were as follows: a large infected population, high infectivity; concerned about family's health status; high mortality if not treated in time (T 1); and long duration of the epidemic, separate from family for a long time (T 2). In terms of self-adjustment, 97.83%(T 1)/88.04%(T 2) of nurses thought it was necessary, but 9(T 1) /5(T 2) chose to avoid addressing it, and 8(T 1) /5(T 2) utilised a professional psychological counselling hotline. Conclusions: Mental health problems among frontline nurses fighting COVID-19 need special attention, so administrators should offer timely counselling and strengthen effective psychosocial support to improve their mental resilience. Relevance to clinical practice: This study surveyed the mental problems and selfadjustment status among nurses working Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19, to provide administrators with a scientific basis to effectively intervene.

Personnel Well-Being in the Helsinki University Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Studies from China have found that the frontline healthcare personnel, especially the nursing staff, caring for patients with COVID-19 are at risk of anxiety and mental health problems [4,32]. Similar results have been described in studies from Germany [8], Israel [33], Portugal [34], and Turkey [35].…”

Post-traumatic growth and influencing factors among frontline nurses fighting against COVID-19

“…24 Nurses were worried about being infected while delivering care. 25 Additionally, most of them had not participated in public health emergency rescue before, had little coping experience and were not well prepared for frontline work. 26 Receiving psychological intervention or training before or during the frontline work period might have helped nurses maintain positive affect and reduce their attention bias to 27 thus helping them complete highintensity work in a good psychological state.…”

Psychological resilience, coping behaviours, and social support among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of quantitative studies

“…Fourteen studies identified specific coping mechanisms employed by HCWs during the pandemic (Blanco-Donoso et al ., 2020; Cai, 2020; Chen et al ., 2020; Chew et al ., 2020; Dong et al ., 2020; Giusti et al ., 2020; Labrague & De los Santos, 2020; Maraqa et al ., 2020; Mi et al ., 2020; Nie et al., 2020; Salman et al, 2020; Shechter et al ., 2020; Vagni et al ., 2020; Xiao et al ., 2020). During the pandemic, HCWs utilized both negative and positive coping styles to manage stress.…”