Psychological Conditions among Nurses in Caring for the COVID-19 Patients: A Study from Referral Hospitals of Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Nurses as frontline health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic were at high risk and vulnerable to virus infection. Physical and mental conditions in caring for COVID-19 patients in hospitals may be associated with the exacerbation of the nurses experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress among the nurses. Objective: The study aimed to identify the psychological conditions (depression, anxiety, and stress) among nurses providing clinical assistance in caring for COVID-19 patients. Methods: This investigation employed a comparative study with a cross-sectional study design. The respondents were 109 nurses working in the COVID-19 wards in two referral hospitals offering care for COVID-19 patients. Data were collected using the standardized DASS-21 questionnaire and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: The results showed psychological conditions among nurses caring for COVID-19 patients with depression (moderate) among 60.0% and 58.8%, anxiety (severe) at 60,0% and 58.8%, and stress levels (mild) at 56% and 52.9% for hospital A and B, respectively. The study also found no significant difference in depression (p=0.890), anxiety (p=0.846), and stress levels (p=0.806, α=0.05) between the nurses in the COVID-19 wards of the two hospitals. Conclusion: The demographic data of nurses, such as age, education level, working experience, hospital facilities, attended workshops/training on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)/Hazmat, and management of COVID-19 patients might contribute to psychological conditions (depression, anxiety, and stress) among nurses in caring for the COVID-19 patients.