Influence of perceived stress and workload on work engagement in front-line nurses during COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To clarify both the potential influencing factors and the current status of front-line nurses' work engagement, and thus provide a reference for targeted interventions. BACKGROUND: After coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, front-line nurses embraced remarkable potential stress and huge workload when caring for coronavirus disease 2019 patients, which may lead to new challenges to work engagement. DESIGN: A large sample survey was conducted at the end of February 2020 in a designated hospital treating coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, in China. t Test, one-way ANOVA, chi-squared test, Pearson's correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were performed among 1,040 nurses using SPSS 24.0. The STROBE checklist was followed for observational studies. RESULTS: The final model interpreted 27.3% of the variance, of which each block could explain 11.7%, 10.3% and 7.9% R2 changes including sociodemographic characteristics, stress and workload, respectively. Work engagement was negatively correlated with stress and workload. The potential influencing factors included sociodemographic characteristics (married, rescue staff, cabin ward), stress (infection control, PPE discomfort) and workload (mental demand, performance, frustration). CONCLUSIONS: Front-line nurses perceived low stress and workload, but high work engagement, especially in self-dedication. However, infection control, PPE discomfort and frustration were negatively associated with nurses' work engagement, while mental demand and good performance were positively associated with nurses' work engagement. Future interventions focused on decreasing front-line staff's infection risk and enhancing their self-confidence may be recommendable to promote their work engagement.

Healthcare workers' stress when caring for COVID-19 patients: An altruistic perspective.

BACKGROUND: When the contagious COVID-19 spread worldwide, the frontline staff faced unprecedented excessive work pressure and expectations of all of the society. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to explore healthcare workers' stress and influencing factors when caring for COVID-19 patients from an altruistic perspective. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in a tertiary hospital during the outbreak of COVID-19 between February and March 2020 in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province in China. Data were collected from 1208 healthcare workers. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Research ethics approval (with the code of TJ-IRB20200379) was obtained from Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Written informed consent was also received from participants. RESULTS: Less than 60% of participants chose moderate or severe stress on all stressors, indicating a low stress level among healthcare workers. The main source of stress among frontline healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients came from the fear of being infected, the fear of family members being infected, and the discomfort caused by protective equipment. Frontline staff who were nurses, were married, and had worked more than 20 days suffered higher stress, whereas rescue staff showed lower stress. CONCLUSION: The healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19 had low stress level, although they still had the fear of being infected or uncomfortable feeling caused by personal protective equipment. A low stress level among healthcare workers indicated their professional devotion and altruism during COVID-19 epidemic. Medical institutions and the government should continue to strengthen infection prevention measures and provide more comprehensive care involving families of frontline healthcare workers, especially nurses and married staff. It will be a lesson to other countries that awaking healthcare workers' inside motivation and providing necessary support from government and society were significant.