Demographic Factors and Job Characteristics Associated With Burnout in Chinese Female Nurses During Controlled COVID-19 Period: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: To investigate the prevalence of burnout syndrome among Chinese female nurses during the controlled coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) period and explore its associated socio-demographic factors and job characteristics. Methods: With the multistage, stratified sampling method, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted from September to October 2020 in China. The survey tool included revised Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) with 15 items, socio-demographic and job characteristics. Univariate logistic regression analysis and multivariate factor logistic regression analysis were used to identify the risk factors for burnout of female nurses. Results: During controlled COVID-19 period in China, the overall prevalence of burnout symptoms among Chinese female nurses was 60.2% with a breakdown in severity as follows: 451 (39.8 %) mild, 163 (14.4%) moderate, and 68 (6.0%) severe burnout. Little variance was reported for burnout symptoms according to job tenure (Waldχ2 = 14.828, P < 0.05,odds ratio [OR] <1), monthly salary income (Waldχ2 = 12.460, P < 0.05, OR <1), and night shift (Waldχ2 = 3.821, P < 0.05, OR > 1). Conclusion: Burnout symptoms among Chinese female nurses were prevalent and associated with job tenure, monthly salary income, and night shift. Female nurses who were with shorter job tenure, worked at night shifts, and had lower monthly salaries tended to exhibit increasing high-level burnout than their counterparts. This study serves as an implication for administrators and policy-makers to improve the work conditions of nurses for promoting overall healthcare service quality.

Gender Bias and the Lack of Equity in Pandemic Nursing in China: A Qualitative Study.

There has long been a gender bias in medicine. This qualitative study aims to identify the experience of sexism among frontline female nurses and further explore their expectations and possible strategies to get rid of gender bias. This is a descriptive phenomenological study of 23 female nurses with 11 ± 3.98 years of experience who spent 36 ± 6.50 days at the frontline during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. We employed Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method to understand the subjective experiences, revealing the following themes: (a) materialization of gender identity; (b) incoordinate relationships; (c) future voice of female nurses. The gender bias experienced by female frontline nurses further challenges their emotional identity and self-identity. Therefore, it is important to require extensive consciousness-raising and policy support to defend female nurses' rights.

The Psychological Pressures of Breast Cancer Patients During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China-A Comparison With Frontline Female Nurses.

Objective: During the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, breast cancer (BC) patients and healthcare workers faced several challenges, resulting in great psychological stress. We measured the psychological status of BC patients and female nurses and compared the severity within the two groups at the peak time-point of the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: A total of 207 BC patients and 684 female nurses were recruited from Wuhan. They completed an anonymous questionnaire online using the most popular social media software in China, WeChat. The psychological status of BC patients and of female nurses was measured using the Chinese versions of the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), the 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and the 22-item Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) for evaluation of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The differences between the two groups were analyzed. Results: The scores of BC patients and frontline female nurses for the four scales were significantly higher than those of non-frontline female nurses (P < 0.001). There were similar scores between BC patients and frontline female nurses for PHQ-9, GAD-7, and IES-R (P = 0.789, P = 0.101, P = 0.158, respectively). Notably, the scores of BC patients for ISI were significantly higher than those of the frontline female nurses (P = 0.016). A considerable proportion of BC patients reported symptoms of depression (106/207, 51.2%), anxiety (130/207, 62.8%), insomnia (106/207, 51.2%), and PTSD (73/207, 35.5%), which was more severe than that of female nurses. Conclusions: BC patients experienced great psychological pressure during the COVID-19 outbreak. The incidents of symptomatic anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and PTSD were significantly comparable to that of frontline female nurses, and episodes of insomnia among BC participants were more serious than for frontline female nurses.