COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health of Nurses: Impact on International Health Security

Abstract

COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and spread rapidly in many other countries. This situation, defined now as a pandemic, has turned into a worldwide public health problem that threatens health security, especially that of healthcare professionals. Nurses, particularly those at the forefront of healthcare and directly involved in COVID-19 patient care, have been affected not only physically but also mentally. Because nurses have longer communication and interaction times with patients, they are more concerned about becoming infected or infecting others. Nurses have the highest level of occupational stress compared to other groups and are accordingly subjected to anxiety and depression. For many reasons such as intense working hours, working in a shift system, an insufficient number of personnel, severe conditions of the unit, being in constant contact with patients and their relatives and showing intense empathy for them, nurses experience primary and secondary traumatic stress, job burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injuries. For this reason, conducting appropriate prevention activities and planning prevention strategies for future pandemic situations is important to support nurses psychologically and to protect their mental health.

Healthcare provider experiences during COVID-19 redeployment

“…In one recent in-depth interview study with 27 nurses from the UK moral distress, compassion fatigue, burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder were described by most interviewees leading many to consider leaving the profession [14]. This negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional wellbeing of nurses is leading to increasing concerns worldwide relating to staff retention and quality of care [15]. Although redeployment was initially often focused on staff and experienced HCP, trainees were increasingly involved in redeployment strategies over the course of the pandemic with similar initial responses of anxiety, disappointment, and fear.…”

Causes and solutions to workplace psychological ill-health for nurses, midwives and paramedics: the Care Under Pressure 2 realist review

“…Reports of losing the human side of care during the pandemic was prevalent across all our professional groups, 231,238 illustrated for paramedics here their interaction pre-pandemic with people with mental health issues was often tactile, involving holding hands and using nonverbal communication. Participants explained how the pandemic had significantly changed this: 'the human side of our job has been taken away, and its really put into sharp contrast how much humanity we usually have in our job…personally I have found it really difficult leaving relatives behind and especially when you have got time-critical, possibly not going to survive patients.…”

Nurses’ comfort and well-being: A descriptive study to find out the relationship between nurses’ awareness of self-comfort and well-being at long-term care settings in the state of Kuwait

“…Nurses in various healthcare settings are troops battling an active adversary to assist patients and residents in recovering from illness and protecting others, themselves, and their families from becoming infected; as a result, they encountered difficulties in carrying out their duties. [ 11 ] The additional strain and physical hardship of wearing personal protective equipment were endangering nurses’ health. Nurses labored above their capacities and continue to do so due to a shortage of staff availability, which forced them to work long hours and accept a greater number of patients.…”