ABSTRACT
Background: Dialysis nurses have long working hours and provide high-quality care for immunocompromised patients. During COVID-19, dialysis nurses are confronted with life and death situations in fast-paced and demanding environments. Thus, they are vulnerable to mental health problems which may influence organizational productivity and pose serious health and safety hazards. Method(s): This was a quality improvement project to evaluate depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9, PHQ9), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-7, GAD7) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS) in dialysis nurses between November 2021 and January 2022 at a large academic medical center. Descriptive statistics were computed for all variables. Result(s): A total of 24 nurses [54% outpatient hemodialysis (HD), 17% outpatient peritoneal dialysis, 25% inpatient HD nurses] with a mean age of 49 (SD=10) years old participated in the survey. Most were female (71%), married or with a significant other (79%), and had children (75%). Majority was Asian (63%), followed by Caucasian (29%), Hispanic (4%) and African American (4%). Almost half of them had a bachelor's degree (46%), were licensed vocational nurses (29%), had an associate degree (13%), and had a master's or doctoral degree (13%). The majority (75%) worked full-time, 13% worked overtime and 7% worked part-time. The mean PHQ9 score was 4+/-4 (minimal depression), GAD7 score was 4+/-4 (minimal anxiety) and PSS score was 21+/-3 (moderate stress). Eighteen (75%) dialysis nurses had prayed to control their mood and 85% of these said praying helped. Four nurses (16.7%) started or tried counseling to control their mood and three (75%) of them mentioned it helped. Two nurses (8.3%) started a new medication to control their mood and both nurses said it helped. Conclusion(s): Dialysis nurses showed minimal depression and anxiety despite the moderate stress level associated with their work. Most dialysis nurses found praying to be helpful to control their moods.