Mental health of the frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with working conditions and personality traits

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital nurses are involved in the direct patient care despite high infection rate. During earlier pandemics, health-care personnel reported significant levels of stress, worry, and depression. The pandemic has adverse outcomes not only on the individual's well-being but also on the patient care and health-care system.Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses working in COVID-19 treating hospitals and its association with the hospital working conditions and the personality traits.Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 218 nurses working in the COVID-19 hospitals. Data were collected using study tools which include the semi-structured sociodemographic questionnaire, hospital working conditions, Perceived Stress Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale, PHQ-9 Depression Scale, and Ten-item Personality Inventory (TIPI).Results: In the current study, the prevalence of perceived stress, anxiety, and depression among nurses was found to be 88.1%, 50.9%, and 28.9%, respectively. Majority of the nurses with higher number of patients to be attended in the hospital were found to have statistically significant high-stress scores. The nurses with higher stress scores were found to have higher mean values of extraversion and openness to experiences traits on the TIPI Scale.Conclusion: The nurses working in COVID-19 hospitals were found to have a high prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression. The study showed that there is a significant influence of hospital working conditions along with the individual's personality traits on the mental health of nurses.