Resilience and Its Relationship With Occupational Stress and Professional Quality of Life Among Nurses in COVID-19 Isolation Wards

Abstract

Background: Nurses’ direct and continuous contact with patients afflicted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes them stress due to fear over affliction and reduces their professional quality of life (PQOL). Resilience has potential protective effects against different stressors. This study aimed to assess resilience and its relationship with occupational stress (OS) and PQOL among nurses in COVID-19 isolation wards.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2020. Participants were nurses in the COVID-19 isolation wards of healthcare centers affiliated to Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Iran. In total, 158 eligible nurses were recruited through a census. Data were collected using a researcher-made demographic questionnaire, the short version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Nursing Stress Scale, and the PQOL Scale. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS software (v. 16.) and through the independent-sample t test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis.Results: The total mean scores of resilience and OS were 26.19±6.2 (in the possible range of 0–40) and 73.3±14.5 (in the possible range of 34–136), respectively. The mean scores of the compassion satisfaction, job burnout, and secondary traumatic stress dimensions of PQOL were respectively 38.02±8.16, 30.84±5.45, and 27.66±6.13, (all in the possible range of 10–50). Most participants experienced moderate OS (57.9%). The mean scores of participants’ resilience and OS had no significant relationship with their demographic characteristics (P > 0.05). Resilience had significant negative relationship with OS (r = –0.376, P < 0.001) and significant positive relationship with the compassion satisfaction dimension of PQOL (r = 0.373; P < 0.001). Resilience was also a significant predictor of OS and the compassion satisfaction dimension of PQOL (P < 0.001).Conclusion: Nurses’ OS can be reduced through resilience-promoting strategies such as development of their social support network, improvement of their optimism, and provision of resilient role models and quality resilience-related education.