Mental strain and changes in psychological health hub among intern-nursing students at pediatric and medical-surgical units amid ambience of COVID-19 pandemic: A comprehensive survey

Rasha Salah Eweida, Zohour Ibrahim Rashwan, Gehan Mohamed Desoky, Leena Mohammad Khonji, Rasha Salah Eweida, Zohour Ibrahim Rashwan, Gehan Mohamed Desoky, Leena Mohammad Khonji

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic brings with it a new reality and changes in the context of traditional nursing clinical training. Intern-nursing students face challenges in providing care for suspected and confirmed patients with COVID-19. This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to explore the mental strain and changes in the psychological health hub among the intern-nursing students during COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 150 intern-nursing students from 13 pediatric and medical-surgical units at Alexandria University Hospitals completed the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome COVID-19 Staff Questionnaire and rated their psychological distress on the General Health Questionnaire. Study results revealed that the most stressful factors were related to possibility of getting COVID-19 infection (2.89 ± 0.39) and transmitting it to their families (2.72 ± 0.62). Moreover, the availability of cure or vaccine for the disease was the most important motivational factor to participate in future outbreaks (2.64 ± 0.77). Regarding intern-nursing students' psychological health hub, 77.3% of them felt under strain, worthless and depressed (64.7%, 62.7%) since the influx of COVID-19 pandemic. Binary logistic regression indicated that students' age (23-24), clinical experience (8 months) and clinical placement in adults' units served as risk factor for developing psychological distress while, male gender and training in pediatric units were protective factors. Designating an emergency psychiatric unit for ongoing monitoring and providing psychological first aids to the vulnerable health care providers is recommended.

Keywords: COVID-19; Internship; Mental health; Psychological; Stress.

Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.

Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Psychological Health Hub among Intern-nursing students' at Pediatric and Medical-Surgical Units during COVID-19 outbreak.

References

    1. Abdulghani H., Irshad M., Al Zunitan M., Al Sulihem A., Al Dehaim M., Al Esefir W., Al Rabiah A., Kameshki R., Alrowais N., Sebiany A., Haque S. Prevalence of stress in junior doctors during their internship training: across-sectional study of three Saudi medical colleges' hospitals. Neuropsychiatric Dis. Treat. 2014;10:1879–1886.
    1. Benjamin Y., Nicholas W., Lee G., Jing M., Goh Y., Leonard L., Yeo M., Ka Zhang M. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2020. Howe-Keat Chin Psychological impact of the covid-19 pandemic on health care workers in Singapore. Retrieved from.
    1. Cao W., Fang Z., Hou G., Hou G., Han M., Xu X., Dong J., Zheng J. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatr. Res. 2020;287:112934.
    1. Carolan C., Davies C., Crookes P., McGhee S., Roxburgh M. Covid 19: disruptive impacts and transformative opportunities in undergraduate nurse Education. Nurse Educ. Pract. 2020;46:102807.
    1. Center of Disease Control and prevention . 2020. Information for Pediatric Healthcare Providers. Available from: .
    1. Chaplin T.M. Gender and emotion expression: a developmental contextual perspective. Emotion review : journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion. 2015;7(1):14–21.
    1. Cheng S., Tsang J., Wong C. Psychiatric complications in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) during the acute treatment phase: a series of 10 cases. Br. J. Psychiatry. 2004;184:359–360.
    1. Chua S. Stress and psychological impact on SARS patients during the outbreak. Can. J. Psychiatr. 2004;49:385–390.
    1. Fernandez R., Lorda H Halcomba E., Moxhama L., Middletona R., Alananzeha I., Ellwood L. Implications for COVID-19: a systematic review of nurses' experiences of working in acute care hospital settings during a respiratory pandemic. Int. J. Nurs. Stud. 2020;111:103637.
    1. Gold J. 2020. The Covid-19 Crisis Too Few Are Talking about: Health Care Workers' Mental Health. Retrieved from.
    1. Goldberg D. Oxford University Press; London: 1972. The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire: A Technique for the Identification and Assessment of Non-psychotic Psychiatric Illness.
    1. Jun J., Son T., Melnyk B. Clinician mental health and well-being during global healthcare crises: evidence learned from prior epidemics for COVID19 pandemic. Worldviews Evidence-Based Nurs. 2020;4
    1. Khalid I., Khalid T., Qabajah M., Barnard A., Qushmaq I. Healthcare workers emotions, perceived stressors and coping strategies during a MERS-CoV outbreak. Clin. Med. Res. 2016;14(1):7–14.
    1. Lai J., Ma S., Wang Y. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease. JAMA Network Open. 2020;3(3):203976.
    1. Lee S., Juang Y., Su Y., Leeb H., Lin Y., Chao C. Facing SARS: psychological impacts on SARS team nurses and psychiatric services in a Taiwan general hospital. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatr. 2005;27:352–358.
    1. McRae K., Ochsner K., Mauss I., Gabrieli J., Gross J. Gender differences in emotion regulation: an fMRI study of cognitive reappraisal. Group Process. Intergr. Relat. 2008;11(2):143–162.
    1. Rafati F., Nouhi E., Sabzevari S., Dehghan-Nayeri N. Coping strategies of nursing students for dealing with stress in clinical setting: a qualitative study. Electron. Physician. 2017;9(12):6120–6128. doi: 10.19082/6120.
    1. Redden E. 2020. Health-Care Students on the Front Lines. Retrieved from.
    1. Safan S., Ebrahim R. Problems and obstacles facing nurse interns and its relation to their performance at clinical setting: a comparative study. American Journal of Nurse Science. 2018;7(6):304–307.
    1. Schwirtz M. 2020. Nurses die, doctors fall sick and panic rises on virus front lines. Retrieved from.
    1. Singh A., Haynes M. The challenges of COVID-19 in nursing education: the time for faculty leadership training is now. Nurse Educ. Pract. 2020;47:102831.
    1. Smith A. 2020. Nurse Suicides Rise in Europe amid Stress of COVID-19 Pandemic. Retrieved from.
    1. Taylor R., Gregory A., Hofmeyer A. Teaching empathy and resilience to undergraduate nursing students: a call to action in thecontext of Covid-19. Nurse Educ. Today. 2020;12:104524.
    1. Vindegaard N., Benros M. COVID-19 pandemic and mental health consequences: systematic review of the current evidence. Brain Behav. Immun. 2020;S0889–1591(20):30954–30955.
    1. Wang C., Pan R., Wan X., Tan Y., Xu L., Ho S C., Ho C R. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Publ. Health. 2020;17:1729.
    1. World Health Organization . 2020. Coronavirus: COVID-19. Is Now Officially a Pandemic. WHO Says Retrieved from: .
    1. Zhai Y., Du X. Mental health care for international Chinese students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(4):e22.
    1. Zhang X., Shi T., Sun L. COVID-19: what is next for nursing in public health emergency? Nurse Educ. Pract. 2020;46:102821.

Source: PubMed

Szponzorok és közreműködők

Egészségi állapot

Kábítószer-beavatkozások

3
Iratkozz fel