Psychological impact of COVID‐19 outbreak on frontline nurses: A cross‐sectional survey study

Abstract

Aims and objectives: This study aimed to portray the prevalence and associated factors of psychological distress among frontline nurses during COVID-19 outbreak. Background: The COVID-19 outbreak has posed great threat to public health worldwide. Nurses fighting against the epidemic on the frontline might be under great physical and psychological distress. This psychological distress was predominantly described as sleep disturbance, symptoms of anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress, inability to make decisions and even somatic symptoms. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Frontline nurses from designated hospitals for COVID-19 patients were invited to complete an online survey by convenience sampling, and the survey included six main sections: the General Health Questionnaire, the Perceived Social Support Scale, the Simplified Coping Style Scale, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, sociodemographic, occupation and work history. Multiple logistic analysis was used to identify the potential risk factors of psychological distress. The study methods were compliant with the STROBE checklist. Results: Of the 263 frontline nurses, 66 (25.1%) were identified as psychological distress. Multiple logistic analysis revealed that working in emergency department, concern for family, being treated differently, negative coping style and COVID-19-related stress symptom were positive related to psychological distress. Perceived more social support and effective precautionary measures were negatively associated with psychological distress. Conclusions: The study demonstrated that COVID-19 had a significant psychological impact on frontline nurses. Early detection of psychological distress and supportive intervention should be taken according to the associated factors to prevent more serious psychological impact on frontline nurses. Relevance to clinical practice: This study highlighted that the frontline nurses were suffering from varying degrees of psychological distress, which needed early screening and supportive intervention for preventing more serious psychological impact on frontline nurses. Beside, more specific measurement should be combined with the GHQ-12 to assess the varying degrees of psychological distress in frontline nurses.

<p>Factors Associated with Psychological Distress and Brief Resilient Coping Level During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Health-Care Professionals in Dessie, Ethiopia</p>

“…And also the prevalence of psychological distress among health-care professionals in this study was higher than the study done in china only on frontline Nurse Professional which shows 25% of nurses had psychological distress according to GHQ they used which might be responsible for the difference in addition to the study population difference. 25 In line with previous research, the majority of participants in this study were highly distressed by COVID-19 related Emotional strain/physical exhaustion, shortages of personal protective equipment, concerns about infecting family members, shortages of ventilators and other crucial medical equipment, fear of limited access to childcare during increased work hours, and Fear of being able to provide competent medical care if deployed to a new area. 17,26,27 Although all health-care workers on duty during the pandemic of COVID-19 are expected to experiencing distress, being married, being nurses and pharmacies, current substance users, working in emergency and outpatient departments, history of chronic medical illness, brief resilient coping level and social support level were particularly associated with high psychological distress.…”

“…And also the prevalence of psychological distress among health-care professionals in this study was higher than the study done in china only on frontline Nurse Professional which shows 25% of nurses had psychological distress according to GHQ they used which might be responsible for the difference in addition to the study population difference. 25 …”

Prevalence of stress, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Stress was estimated in 40 studies [ 18 , 20 , 25 , 27 , 29 , 33 , 35 , 36 , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] , [64] , [65] , [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] , [70] ]. The overall pooled point estimates of prevalence for stress varied between 10% and 84% ( Fig.…”

“…The pooled prevalence according to the month of data collected was as follows: February: 32% ( n = 14; 95% CI 25–41; I2 = 98), March: 45% (n = 6; 95% CI 37–53; I2 = 96) and April: 50% ( n = 13; 95% CI 35–66; I2 = 98). Seventeen studies [ 20 , 35 , 36 , 39 , 43 , 44 , 46 , 54 , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] , 67 , 69 ] involving nurses who were working on the frontline showed stress prevalence at 46% (95% CI = 39–54; I 2 = 97), whereas 20 studies including mixed nurses working in the frontline and second line showed the stress prevalence was 42% (95% CI = 31–53, I 2 = 99). Thirteen studies that used the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) showed a pooled prevalence of stress at 50% (95% CI = 41–59, I 2 = 98), whereas eight studies [ 35 , 45 , [54] , [55] , [56] , 63 , 64 , 67 ] using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) had a pooled prevalence of 50% (95% CI = 37–63, I 2 = 99).…”

Behavior change due to COVID-19 among dental academics—The theory of planned behavior: Stresses, worries, training, and pandemic severity

“…It is important to understand the factors associated with these behaviors and if they are impaired by the levels of stress these professionals have. A number of studies have assessed the psychological outcomes of the pandemic on health care workers [20][21][22] and the general population [23][24][25][26] but not on dental academics.…”