Impact of COVID-19 on Anxiety, Stress, and Coping Styles in Nurses in Emergency Departments and Fever Clinics: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

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.

COVID-19 negatively impacts on psychological and somatic status in frontline nurses

“…According to previous studies from SARS and Ebola pandemic, the onset of a sudden /immediately life-threatening illness could lead to extraordinary amount of pressure on healthcare workers ( Liu et al, 2012 ). SAS score which was developed by professor Zung ( Zung, 1971 ) has been extensively used as a simple tool for evaluating level of anxiety in clinics due to its good reliability and validity ( Cheng et al, 2020 , Cui et al, 2021 , Li et al, 2021 , Mo et al, 2021 ). Recently, many studies evaluated the impact of COVID-19 on development of anxiety in the frontline nurses.…”

COVID-19 Pandemic; Anxiety and Depression among Frontline Healthcare Workers: Rising from the Ashes

“…Fear of infection; especially spreading it to family members, long shifts in sub-optimal condition, lack of training and confidence created a vicious cycle of mistrust and negative professional attitude among physicians and nurses [28]. For example a study from china showed that mental health problems were more likely among nurses who regretted being in the field during the pandemic [29]. Another systematic review and meta-analysis showed high prevalence of anxiety and depression especially among female nurses [25].…”

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Nurses and Auxiliary Nursing Care Technicians—A Voluntary Online Survey

“…Pandemics impose an immense psychological burden on healthcare workers due to a combination of workplace stressors and personal fears [13,14], including lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other resources, long working hours, exposure to COVID-19-positive patients, fear of spreading the virus to family and relatives, increased workload, isolation, stigmatisation and the loss of a colleague, among others [15,16]. These factors contribute to increased physical and psychological burden on healthcare professionals [17], which can lead to the development of stress, insomnia, depression and/or anxiety [18].…”