Emergency stress management among nurses: A lesson from the COVID‐19 outbreak in China–a cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Aims and objectives To assess the level of stress response, self‐efficacy and perceived social support status of working nurses during the outbreak of the COVID‐19 and investigate potential factors affecting their stress. Background The stress level of clinical nurses directly affects their physical and mental health and work efficiency. Design This study was a cross‐sectional investigation, which was performed following the STROBE checklist. The current study was conducted in February 2020 by selecting clinical nurses from the Zigong First People's Hospital for investigation. Methods At the peak of the COVID‐19 outbreak in China, we assessed clinical nurses with the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire, the General Self‐Efficacy Scale and the Perceived Social Support Scale. Specifically, the nurses were divided into three groups: (a) nurses supporting Wuhan; (b) nurses in the department of treating the COVID‐19 patients in our hospital (epidemic department); and (c) nurses in the general department without the COVID‐19 patients in our hospital (non‐epidemic department). Results A total of 1092 clinical nurses were surveyed with 94 nurses in Wuhan, 130 nurses treating COVID‐19 patients in our hospital and 868 nurses working without direct contact with diagnosed COVID‐19 patients. The mean stress score of all surveyed nurses was 33.15 (SD: 25.551). There was a statistically significant difference in stress response scores between different departments. Noticeably, the nurses who went to support in Wuhan showed a weaker stress response than the nurses who stayed in our hospital (mean: 19.98 (Wuhan) vs. 32.70 (epidemic department in our hospital) vs. 34.64 (non‐epidemic department in our hospital)). In addition, stress was negatively correlated with general self‐efficacy and perceived social support. Conclusion The present study suggested that the stress status of second‐line nurse without direct contact with diagnosed COVID‐19 patients was more severe than that of first‐line nurses who had direct contact with COVID‐19 patients. Relevance to clinical practice Our study indicated the importance of psychological status of second‐line medical staff during the global pandemic.

Factors Associated With Psychological Distress in Health-Care Workers During an Infectious Disease Outbreak: A Rapid Systematic Review of the Evidence

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“…Fourteen studies examined how perceptions of control were associated with distress among HCW (Table 2). In eight studies, higher self-efficacy was associated with lower anxiety, depression, distress, and lower levels of fear about SARS and post-traumatic stress symptoms during the COVID-19 and SARS outbreaks, respectively (10,35,68,72,90,105,123,150). Conversely, feeling a loss of control was associated with greater distress (148) during the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong.…”

Exploring of Self-management Experience among Health Professional Survivors from Coronavirus Disease 2019 in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

“…Health professionals have a higher risk of being infected with COVID-19 than other professions because the chances of being exposed to this virus are much greater in a hospital environment [17]. Based on the theory, self-management has a positive impact on the quality of one's health [18], [19], [20].…”

Internet-based stress recovery intervention FOREST for healthcare staff amid COVID-19 pandemic: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been an enormous challenge for healthcare worldwide, thus putting the mental health of healthcare workers at risk. The increased demand for care during the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected healthcare workers’ (HCWs) levels of stress [ 1 , 2 ], depression [ 3 , 4 ], and burnout [ 5 – 7 ] and posttraumatic stress disorder [ 8 ]. These mental health challenges might be also associated with an experience of moral injury which refers to psychological distress caused by particular actions or absence of them thus violating a person’s moral beliefs [ 9 , 10 ].…”