Stress Level among Nurses during Covid-19 Pandemic
1Ms. Anjali Ashok Ambulkar, 2Dr. S G Joshi, 3Mrs. Manisha Mistry
1M.Sc. Nursing Student, Symbiosis College of Nursing, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune.
2Professor, Symbiosis College of Nursing, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune.
3Assistant Professor, Symbiosis College of Nursing, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune.
Abstract.
Background:Covid-19 is strongly associated with stress. It has affected the general population where Nurses are no different. Nurses who have managed the patients 24/7 have undergone tremendous stress, as they have to be away from their families and loved ones. This has also created a panic situation among the healthcare professionals. Aim:In this study to find out the level of stress among nurses in selected hospitals of Pune city.Materials and Methods: The researcher has used a Quantitative approach and a non- experimental descriptive research design was used. A sample size of 15 nurses was selected using purposive sampling technique and who gave their consent to participate in the current study. In current study, Modified COVID-19 stress scale was used.Results: In this study, 66.7% of them were female nurses and 33.3% of them were male nurses participated. 86.7% of the nurses had age 20-25 years and 13.3% of them had age 26-30 years. 60% of them were from emergency department, 6.7% of them were from ICU, 6.7% of them were from COVID ward and 26.7% of them were from other wards. 13.3% of the nurses had mild stress (Score 50-116), 80% of them had moderate stress (Score 117-183) and 6.7% of them had severe stress (score 184-250) during COVID 19 pandemic.Conclusion: The study gives a direction that we need to explore the factors that have led to this stress and use methods to reduce or manage them efficiently. The nurses from selected hospitalshad moderate level of stress. This still gives an insight that measures are necessary to curb the factors that cause stress among the Nurses and help them have a stress free life.
Keywords: Stress level, COVID-19 pandemic, Nurses .
Introduction
Globally, the Covid-19 has led to unprecedented hazards to mental health. This has not only affected the physical health, but mental health also, leading to sleep disorders, stress, and depression.
The stress is commonly seen among females, people of age group (≤40 years), in people with chronic illnesses, and persons who watch fake news on social medias. Majority of cases reported were with anxiety, depression, and stress in the general publicas in countries like Iran,China, Spain, the US, Turkey, Italy, Nepal, and Denmark.1 The nurses did alcohol consumption, got sedative drugs and ate excessively to engage mentally to reduce the stress and anxiety.2
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
1. To assess the stress level among nurses during COVID-19 pandemic in selected hospitals of Pune city.
2. To find association of stress level with demographic variables of nurses during COVID-19 pandemic in selected hospitals of Pune city.
METHODOLOGY
The researcher has used a Quantitative approach and used a descriptive research design in the current study. The study was conducted on Nurses in selected hospitals of Pune city. 15 nurses who were willing to participate were selected using a purposive sampling technique. These participants were informed about the study and its purpose via Phones and emails and due consent was taken. A semi structured questionnaire was used to collect the data.
This questionnaire had two sections, a) Demographic data and b) Modified version of COVID-19 stress scale.
Section I: Demographic data:
The first part of the tool consisted of total 11 items for obtaining information about the selected background factors such as age in year, gender, qualification, department, experience, marital status, number of children, and number of family members, parents stay, monthly family income and any family member suffering from chronic diseases. The researcher collected the information through mails.
Section II:Modified version of COVID-19 stress scale
It comprised of 50 items to assess the stress level among nurses under headings like; Physical domain, Mental domain, Social domain, Financial domain, and Spiritual domain. The scores were categorized based on Mild stress (Score 50-116), Moderate stress (Score 117-183) and Severe stress (Score 184-250).
RESULTS
SECTION I
Table 1. Demographic data n=15
Demographic variable f %
Age
20-25 years 13 86.7%
26-30 years 2 13.3
Gender
Female 10 66.7%
Male 5 33.3%
Qualification
GNM 4 26.7%
BSc Nursing 9 60.0%
PBBSC Nursing 2 13.3%
Department
Emergency department 9 60.0%
ICU 1 6.7%
COVID ward 1 6.7%
Otherdepartment 4 26.7%
Experience
<1 year 3 20.0%
1-5 years 12 80.0%
Marital status
Married 2 13.3%
Unmarried 13 86.7%
Do you have child? If yes specify the number
No 15 100.0%
Number of family members
2-4 5 33.3%
5-7 8 53.3%
8-10 2 13.3%
Parents stays with me
Yes 5 33.3%
No 10 66.7%
Any family member suffering from chronic diseases?
No 9 60.0%
Diabetes 4 26.7%
Hypertension 2 13.3%
86.7%
13.3%
Age
20-25 years 26-30 years
Fig 1: Distribution of samples based on Age
The above pie diagram shows that 86.7% of the nurses belonged to the age group of 20-25 years and 13.3% in the age group of 26-30 years.
66.7%
33.3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Female Male
Gender
Fig 2: Distribution of samples based on Gender
The above bar diagram shows that 66.7% of them were females and 33.3% of them were males
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
GNM BSc Nursing PBBSC Nursing
26.7%
60.0%
13.3%
Qualification
Fig 3: Distribution of samples based on Qualification
The above bar diagram shows that 26.7% of them completed their GNM, 60% of them completed B.Sc. Nursing and 13.3% of them completed their P.B.B.Sc. nursing.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Emergency depaertmnt
ICU COVID
Ward
Other department 60.0%
6.7% 6.7%
26.7%
Department
Fig 4: Distribution of samples based on the Department they work
The above bar diagram shows that 60% of them were working in emergency department, 6.7% of them were working in ICU, 6.7% of them were working in COVID ward and 26.7% of them were from other wards.
20.0%
80.0%
Experience
< 1 year 1-5 years
Fig 5: Distribution of samples based on the Experience
The above pie diagram reveals that 20% of them had less than one year of experience and 80% of them had 1-5 years of experience.
13.3%
86.7%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Married Unmarried
Marital status
Fig 6: Distribution of samples based on the marital status
The above bar diagram shows that 13.3% of them were married and 86.7% of them were unmarried.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2-4 5-7 8-10
33.3%
53.3%
13.3%
Number of family members
Fig 7: Distribution of samples based on the Family size
The above bar diagram reveals that33.3% of them had a family of 2-4 numbers, 53.3% of them had 5-7 members and 13.3% of them had 8-10 members in the family.
40.0%
46.7%
6.7% 6.7%
0%
20%
40%
60%
< 20,000 Rs 20,000-30,000 Rs
30,000-40,000 Rs
>40,000 Rs Monthly family income
Fig 8: Distribution of samples based on the Family Income
The above bar diagram shows that 40% of them had monthly family income less than Rs.20000, 46.7% of them had Rs.20000-30000, 6.7% of them had Rs.30000-40000 and 6.7% of them had family income above Rs.40000.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
No Diabetes Hypertension
60.0%
26.7%
13.3%
Any family member suffering from chronic diseases?
Fig 9: Distribution of samples based on the history of chronic illness
The above bar diagram reveals that60% of them did not had their family members suffering from chronic disease, 26.7% of them had diabetes and 13.3% of them had hypertension.
Table 2. Stress level among nurses working during COVID-19 pandemic in selected hospitals of Pune city.
Stress Freq %
Mild (Score 50-116) 2 13.3%
Moderate (Score 117-
183) 12 80.0%
Severe (Score 184-250) 1 6.7%
13%
80%
7%
Stress level among nurses during COVID 19 pandemic in selected hospitals of Pune
Mild Moderate Severe
Fig 10: Stress level among nurses
The above pie chart reveals that 13.3% of the nurses had mild stress (Score 50-116), 80% of them had moderate stress (Score 117-183) and 6.7% of them had severe stress (score 184-
250) during COVID 19 pandemic.
DISCUSSION
A survey to understand the views on the COVİD‐19 pandemic and their perceived stress levels was carried out.
The average score on the scale (PSS) was 31.69 ± 6.91, that showed a moderate level of stress. These results are in line with the current study.3
Another study was conducted on healthcare employees from 5 hospitals, in Singapore and India where, 2.2%of the samples showedextremelysevere stress, and 3.8%had severe levels of psychological distress.4
CONCLUSION
The present study was conducted on total 15 nurses of selected hospitals of Pune city. Results revealed that 13.3%
of the nurses had mild stress (Score 50-116), maximum number of nurses (80%) of them had moderate stress (Score 117-183) and 6.7% of them had severe stress (score 184-250) during COVID 19 pandemic. This gives a direction that we need to explore the factors that have led to this stress and use methods to reduce or manage them efficiently.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST – Nil SOURCE OF FUNDING – Nil
ETHICAL CLEARANCE – Ethical clearance was obtained from ethical sub-committee of Symbiosis College of nursing.
References
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Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. Journal of affective disorders. 2020 Aug 8.
2. Mosheva M, Hertz‐Palmor N, Dorman Ilan S, Matalon N, Pessach IM, Afek A, Ziv A, Kreiss Y, Gross R, Gothelf D. Anxiety, pandemic‐related stress and resilience among physicians during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Depression and anxiety. 2020 Oct;37(10):965-71.
3. Aslan H, Pekince H. Nursing students' views on the COVID‐19 pandemic and their percieved stress levels.
Perspectives in psychiatric care. 2020 Aug 17.
4. Chew NW, Lee GK, Tan BY, Jing M, Goh Y, Ngiam NJ, Yeo LL, Ahmad A, Khan FA, Shanmugam GN, Sharma AK. A multinational, multicentre study on the psychological outcomes and associated physical symptoms amongst healthcare workers during COVID-19 outbreak. Brain, behavior, and immunity. 2020 Aug 1;88:559-65.
