Open AccessPsychological Behavior, Work Stress, and Social Support of Frontline Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Xixi Li,
Haiyan Wang,
Yuanchen Wu,
Yun Ma
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.254
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1938-2413
pISSN - 0279-3695
DOI - 10.3928/02793695-20220406-01
Subject(s) - workload , social support , anxiety , psychosocial , pandemic , coping (psychology) , psychology , mental health , burnout , clinical psychology , depression (economics) , medicine , psychiatry , nursing , covid-19 , disease , social psychology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pathology , computer science , economics , macroeconomics , operating system
Using a cluster sampling method, 248 nurses from frontline departments of three large general hospitals in Sichuan Province, China, were selected as participants in the current study. Risk perception and coping methods during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, negative emotions and psychological workload, and awareness of social support among nurses were studied. Negative emotions among nurses increased significantly, with fear being the most common (73.4%, n = 182). Psychological workload of nurses in close contact with patients with COVID-19 was higher than that of nurses in other positions ( p < 0.05). Family was the major source of social support. Social support was negatively associated with depression (-0.206, p < 0.05), obsessive-compulsiveness/anxiety (-0.185, p < 0.05), and hypochondriasis (-0.234, p < 0.05). Psychological workload of nurses was positively correlated with depression (0.251, p < 0.05), neurasthenia (0.242, p < 0.05), and obsessive-compulsiveness/anxiety (0.231, p < 0.05). Nursing staff in frontline departments encountered psychological workload burdens to varying degrees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, it is important to implement and strengthen psychological counseling for nurses in close contact positions, and to seek family and social support for nurses. [ Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 60 (10), 21-27.].