The mental health of intensive care unit healthcare workers who care for critical patients in pandemics

Abstract

Aim: In addition to examining the pathophysiology and treatment of the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19), it is very important to investigate the psychological effects of the pandemic on healthcare workers. Material and Methods: Our study was conducted in a group of nurses (85 people) who worked for at least 2 weeks in the COVID-19 intensive care unit of the Kastamonu Education and Research Hospital. Participants answered the questionnaire applied via the internet and sent the answers in the same way. For each participant, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (phq-9, range 0-27), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (gad-7, range 0-21), Insomnia Severity Index (isi, range 0-28) criteria are respectively depression, anxiety, and it was used to assess the severity of insomnia symptoms. Results: It was observed that 24.7% of the nurses participating in our study had depression symptoms, 38.8% had anxiety symptoms, and 45.4% had insomnia symptoms. In the female nurse group, we found that depression, anxiety and insomnia symptoms were more pronounced. There was no statistically significant difference in 3 scales according to the years of intensive care work. Discussion: Nurses treating COVID-19 patients are probably exposed to the highest risk of infection due to their close, frequent contact with patients and working longer hours than normal. The spread of the virus, the health of the family and others, changes in work, and concerns about isolation can affect the mental state of healthcare workers during this pandemic process. In this study conducted on nurses working in the COVID intensive care unit, high rates of depression, anxiety and insomnia symptoms were observed among the respondents.