Mental Health Outcomes of Perceived Stress, Anxiety, Fear and Insomnia, and the Resilience among Frontline Nurses Caring for Critical COVID-19 Patients in Intensive Care Units

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant disruption in healthcare delivery and poses a unique long-term stressor among frontline nurses. Hence, the investigators planned to explore the adverse mental health outcomes and the resilience of frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs). Methodology: A cross-sectional online survey using Google form consisted of questionnaires on perceived stress scale (PSS-10), generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7), Fear Scale for Healthcare Professionals regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, insomnia severity index, and the connor davidson resilience scale-10 (CD-RISC) were administered among the nurses working in COVID ICUs of a tertiary care center in North India. Results: A considerable number of subjects in the study reported symptoms of distress (68.5%), anxiety (54.7%), fear (44%), and insomnia (31%). Resilience among the frontline nurses demonstrated a moderate to a high level with a mean percentage score of 77.5 (31.23 +/- 4.68). A negative correlation was found between resilience and adverse mental outcomes; hence, resilience is a reliable tool to mitigate the adverse psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Emphasizing the well-being of the nurses caring for critical COVID-19 patients during the pandemic is necessary to enable them to provide high-quality nursing care.

Automated summary

This study explores the mental health outcomes and resilience of frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. The results show that a considerable number of nurses experience distress, anxiety, fear, and insomnia symptoms. However, overall, frontline nurses demonstrate a moderate to high level of resilience. The study suggests that resilience is a reliable tool to mitigate the adverse psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.