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, socio-demographic, 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.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jocn.15454

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

Objectives Our aims were to assess the relationship between workplace violence, job satisfaction, burnout, organisational support and turnover intention, and to explore factors associated with turnover intention among nurses in Chinese tertiary hospitals. Methods The purposive sampling method was used to collect data from August 2016 through January 2017. A total of 1761 nurses from 9 public tertiary hospitals in 4 provinces (municipalities) located in eastern (Beijing), central (Heilongjiang, Anhui) and western (Shaanxi) regions of China completed the questionnaires (effective response rate=85.20%). A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Workplace Violence Scale, Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire Revised Short Version, Perceived Organizational Support-Simplified Version Scale and Turnover Intention Scale. Results A total of 1216 of 1706 (69.1%) participants had high turnover intention. During the previous 12 months, the prevalence of physical violence and psychological violence towards nurses was 9.60% and 59.64%, respectively. As expected, the level of turnover intention was negatively correlated with participants’ scores on job satisfaction (r=−0.367, p Conclusions Perceived organisational support served as a mediator between workplace violence, job satisfaction, burnout and turnover intention, and it had a significantly negative impact on turnover intention. Therefore, nursing managers should understand the importance of the organisation’s support and establish a reasonable incentive system to decrease turnover intention.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/8/6/e019525.full.pdf

Workplace violence, job satisfaction, burnout, perceived organisational support and their effects on turnover intention among Chinese nurses in tertiary hospitals: a cross-sectional study.

Coping with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a significant risk factor for the psychological distress of health workers. Hence, this study explores the relationship between coping strategies used by healthcare and emergency workers in Italy to manage the stress factors related to the COVID-19 emergency, which may result in the risk of developing secondary trauma. We study differences between healthcare (n = 121) and emergency workers (n = 89) in terms of their coping strategies, emergency stress, and secondary trauma, as well as the relationships of these differences to demographic variables and other stress factors (Instructions and Equipment). For this purpose, we collected data from participants through the following questionnaires online: Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale - Italian Version, The Coping Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form, an original questionnaire on stressors, and the Emergency Stress Questionnaire (to assess organizational-relational, physical, decisional inefficacy, emotional, cognitive, and COVID-19 stress). We performed a t-test, correlational analysis, and hierarchical regression. The analyses reveal that compared with the emergency worker group, the health worker group has greater levels of emergency stress and arousal and is more willing to use problem-focused coping. Healthcare workers involved in the treatment of COVID-19 are exposed to a large degree of stress and could experience secondary trauma; hence, it is essential to plan prevention strategies for future pandemic situations. Moreover, individual efficacy in stopping negative emotions and thoughts could be a protective strategy against stress and secondary trauma.

/pdf/coping-with-covid-19-emergency-stress-secondary-trauma-and-30hbrj6svq.pdf

Coping With COVID-19: Emergency Stress, Secondary Trauma and Self-Efficacy in Healthcare and Emergency Workers in Italy

Background Burnout is usually defined as a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors, characterrized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of social accomplishment. Coping mechanisms and job satisfaction are associated with the incidence of burnout symptoms in a work context. Subjects and methods The aim of this paper was to make a systematic analysis of the literature related to nurses' stress and the incidence of burnout syndrome in intensive care nurses, and also to determine the research into associations between coping mechanisms and job satisfaction on one side, and burnout on the other side. Appropriate databases (Scopus, PubMed) were searched with the aim of finding relevant studies and articles published in the last 15 years. The keywords were burnout, coping mechanisms, job satisfaction, nurses, and intensive care. Two independent reviewers carried out a selection of the studies. Results The literature review found 786 studies about burnout and its association with different variables. Twenty-nine original research papers were discovered in this review process. Open questions still remain concerning burnout and the associations between the considered variables. We also found that studies using a qualitative approach, which could provide better insight into the investigation of burnout, was insufficient in this area. Conclusion Burnout syndrome is serious problem for healthcare systems and affects almost all profiles of healthcare workers. Although burnout is an evidence-based public health problem, there is still no systematic approach to prevention. Prevention activities to reduce stress and the incidence of burnout should be provided for nurses, especially those in very demanding posts.

/pdf/stress-and-burnout-syndrome-and-their-associations-with-3q1e3boc8j.pdf

Stress and burnout syndrome and their associations with coping and job satisfaction in critical care nurses: a literature review.

The work environment of emergency workers is an important factor related to stress. Coping with the COVID-19 emergency is a factor that is highly related to stress, and severe stress is a risk factor for developing secondary trauma. Coping and resilience can help rescue workers to better respond in emergency situations and could protect them from secondary trauma. We aimed to explore the relationship of emergency stress, hardiness, coping strategies, and secondary trauma among emergency workers and the mediating roles of coping strategies and hardiness on the effect of stress in producing secondary trauma. The study involved 513 emergency workers from the Red Cross Committee in Veneto, one of the Italian regions most affected by the COVID-19. Participants completed questionnaires online to measure emergency stress (physical, emotional, cognitive, organizational‒relational, COVID-19, and inefficacy decisional), hardiness, coping strategies, and secondary trauma. Other variables analyzed were age, gender, weekly hours of service, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE). We performed t-tests, a correlational analysis, regressions, and a mediation analysis. Hardiness and coping strategies, in particular, which stop unpleasant emotions and thoughts and problem-focused, emerged as mediators in reducing the predicted effect of stress on secondary trauma. The mediating effects of hardiness and coping strategies were found to reduce the effect of stress on arousal by 15% and the effect on avoidance by 25%.

Hardiness and coping strategies as mediators of stress and secondary trauma in emergency workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Work stress is a major problem for nurses and it can negatively influence job performance. Therefore, it is critical to explore variables that can reduce or buffer the negative effects of work stress. This study explores the moderating effects of coping strategies on the relationship between work stress and job performance for nurses in China. A cross-sectional survey of 852 nurses from four tertiary hospitals in Heilongjiang Province, China, was conducted in 2013. Descriptive statistics were reported for socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics, level of work stress, coping strategies, and job performance. Regression analysis was conducted to test the interaction between work stress and coping strategies on job performance. Three subscales of work stress were negatively related to job performance. Positive coping strategies moderated Patient Care and job performance while negative coping strategies moderated Workload and Time and performance, and between Working Environment and Resources and performance. Positive coping strategies reduce or buffer the negative effects of work stress on job performance and negative coping strategies increased the negative effects.

/pdf/moderating-effects-of-coping-on-work-stress-and-job-14xluojp3l.pdf

Hua Ai

Papers

Moderating effects of coping on work stress and job performance for nurses in tertiary hospitals: a cross-sectional survey in China