Mental Health in Dialysis Nurses During COVID-19

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.