Stress and quality of life of intensive care nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Self‐efficacy and resilience as resources

Abstract

Background Health care workers employed in the COVID‐19 emergency are at a high risk of stress. Aims and objectives To explore the mediating roles of self‐efficacy and resilience between stress and both physical and mental quality‐of‐life components in intensive care nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design Cross‐sectional survey design. Methods The stress subscale (depression, anxiety, and stress scale in Spanish Scale, DASS‐21), the summary components (physical and mental) of health‐related quality of life (SF‐36), the general self‐efficacy scale (GSES), and the resilience scale (RS‐14) were administered in 308 intensive care nurses. Serial multiple mediator models were used. Results There was a significant indirect effect of levels of perceived stress on both physical and mental health components through self‐efficacy and resilience. Specifically, greater perception of self‐efficacy was associated with a lower perception of stress and greater resilience, while higher resilience was associated with greater physical and mental health (B = −0.03; SE = 0.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [−0.07, −0.01]; B = −0.03, SE = 0.01, 95% CI = [−0.07, −0.01], respectively). It was observed that self‐efficacy alone also mediates the relationship of the perception of stress on the components of physical and mental health (B = −0.07; SE = 0.05; 95% CI = [−0.18, −0.03]; B = −0.09; SE = 0.04; 95% CI = [−0.17, −0.24], respectively). However, resilience alone was not a significant mediator of these associations. Conclusions It can be concluded that stress is linked to the physical and mental health components related to quality of life through self‐efficacy and resilience. Relevance to clinical practice These psychological resources would allow the nursing staff to maintain a good quality of life despite high levels of stress. These findings have implications for future research in terms of both model testing and clinical application.

Protective Factors and Coping Styles Associated with Quality of Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison of Hospital or Care Institution and Private Practice Nurses

“…Surprisingly, resilience was not significantly associated with QoL, a finding contrary to our expectations based on previous research [ 14 , 23 , 26 ]. It is possible that the inclusion of the coping strategies in the analyses masked the link between resilience and QoL since resilience and coping tend to be closely associated [ 60 , 61 ].…”

“…We identified three key resources to help nurses cope with stress during the pandemic. First is resilience, which reflects the ability of an individual to face the difficulties of life and bounce back after a traumatic event [ 23 , 24 ]. Resilience has been found to mediate the association between sources of stress and psychological distress during COVID-19, and several studies recommend training nurses to become resilient to prepare them for crises [ 5 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Nurses' spiritual well‐being and the COVID‐19 pandemic: A thematic approach

“…Most studies on this area focused on nurses' mental and psychological health (i.e., Varghese et al, 2021). Some studies explored nurses' health-related quality of life (i.e., Peñacoba et al, 2021) and some focused on the professional quality of life (i.e., Inocian et al, 2021). However, studies that focused on understanding nurses' spiritual well-being in their workplace during this pandemic remain scarce.…”

What's in this journal? The workforce issue

“…The physical and psychological impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on nurses in undeniable, and the next article by Peñacoba et al 18 used a cross‐sectional survey to explore the roles of self‐efficacy and resilience on stress and both physical and mental quality‐of‐life components in intensive care nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. They used three validated instruments to explore this in 308 nurses in Spain.…”