Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurse practitioners' professional quality of life.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 global pandemic has put health care professionals under immense pressure and hindered their ability to provide quality services. PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the professional quality of life (ProQOL) among Georgia nurse practitioners during the COVID-19 global pandemic. METHODOLOGY: The ProQOL survey was distributed to nurse practitioners in Georgia by the professional organization's listserv. Multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were performed to assess differences between employment settings, geographic location, and other relevant demographic qualifiers and levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. RESULTS: Hundred nurse practitioners (NPs) (n = 100) responded to the survey. Ninety-one percent were female and ages 25-35 years. Male NPs showed higher rates of compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. CONCLUSIONS: A ProQOL survey demonstrated increased burnout and secondary traumatic stress among frontline practitioners in Georgia due to increased workloads, feelings of inadequacy, fear of being infected by the virus, and prolonged exposure to deaths. IMPLICATIONS Ensuring effective communication, team collaboration, emotional, adequate staffing, and psychological support can help reduce compassion fatigue among NPs.