Frontiers in Psychiatry (Dec 2020)

Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Nurses in China: A Nationwide Survey During the Outbreak

  • Yan Liu,
  • Yan Liu,
  • Youlin Long,
  • Yifan Cheng,
  • Qiong Guo,
  • Liu Yang,
  • Yifei Lin,
  • Yu Cao,
  • Yu Cao,
  • Lei Ye,
  • Lei Ye,
  • Yan Jiang,
  • Ka Li,
  • Ka Li,
  • Kun Tian,
  • Xiaoming A,
  • Cheng Sun,
  • Fang Zhang,
  • Xiaoxia Song,
  • Ga Liao,
  • Jin Huang,
  • Liang Du,
  • Liang Du

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.598712
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

Read online

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a major public health issue and challenge to health professionals. In similar epidemics, nurses experienced more distress than other providers.Methods: We surveyed both on-duty nurses caring for infected patients and second-line nurses caring for uninfected patients from Hubei and other provinces throughout China.Results: We received completed surveys from 1,364 nurses from 22 provinces: 658 front-line and 706 second-line nurses. The median (IQR) GHQ-28 score of all nurses was 17 (IQR 11–24). The overall incidence of mild-to-moderate distress (GHQ score > 5) was 28%; that for severe distress (GHQ score > 11) was 6%. The incidence of mild-to-moderate distress in the second-line nurses was higher than that in the front-line nurses (31 vs. 25%; OR, 0.74; 95 CI, 0.58–0.94). Living alone (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44–0.86) and feeling supported (OR, 0.82, 95% CI, 0.74–0.90) independently predicted lower anxiety.Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the psychological problems of all nurses were generally serious. The interviewed second-line nurses face more serious issues than the front-line nurses.

Keywords