ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: During this pandemic everyone is facing the wrath of this novel coronavirus but nurses who are meticulously working in closed contact with diseased are at more risk for developing anxiety, depression and compromised quality of life. This study was conducted with an intent to identify anxiety, depression and quality of life and its predictors among nurses who are actively involved in caring of COVID-19 patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out among nurses who were actively involved in COVID-19 duties at government tertiary health care institutes of India and data was collection through convenience sampling. Standardized tools (HADS, WHOQOL-BREF) were preferred for the assessment of participants' anxiety, depression and quality of life. Multivariate regression analysis was used to identify predictors for anxiety and depression. RESULTS: Of 354 nurses, 12.1% were suffering from anxiety while 14.7% had depression. Mean score for physical, psychological, social and environmental domains were 14.75 ± 1.86, 14.92 ± 2.46, 15.21 ± 3.01, and 14.48 ± 2.38 respectively. Nurses' education was a significant predictor for anxiety (odds ratio [OR] = -0.262, 95% CI: -0.510- -0.014, and P value = 0.038). Similarly for depression, designation of nurses acts as a contributing factor (odds ratio [OR] = 0.287, 95% CI: 0.016- 0.557, and P value = 0.038). CONCLUSION: Nurses are providing their services beyond boundaries so that we can overcome with hard time of COVID-19 pandemic. Although less but still nurses are suffering from anxiety and depression which need to be addressed to protect and enhance their mental well-being.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The COVID-19 Pandemic has caused anxiety and stress among people. Nursing students, being an important link in the delivery of health care services, are always exposed to stressful situations which in turn put a great toll on their mental health. Moreover, the perceived risk of pandemics motivates people to embrace different protective measures so as to reduce any potential threats of an emerging health concern. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the COVID-induced anxiety and protective behaviors among nursing students. Methods: Nursing students studying at 02 nursing institutes of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India were enrolled for the study. The data were collected using COVID-induced anxiety scale and protective behaviors towards COVID-19 Scale. These scales were converted to online google forms, and the link was circulated among 370 nursing students through emails and WhatsApp. A total of 229 students submitted their responses within stipulated time and were included in the final data analysis. Results: The response rate of the survey was 62%. Evidently, nursing students had a moderate level of anxiety (mean score 31.28 ± 5.29) due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Overall protective behavior mean score was 56.63 ± 6.4 which reflects that students were following higher quality of protective behaviors. There is a negative linear correlation between anxiety score and protective behavior score. Conclusion: The nursing students exhibited a moderate level of anxiety, and routing protective behaviors were frequently performed by these students. There is a timely need to plan and implement interventions for nursing students so as to make them self-capable to resolve psychosocial issues, especially during disease outbreaks.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Nursing is a very challenging profession, which requires very stringent training since initial years of nursing education. Throughout the training period, students are exposed to various stressful situations. Inability to cope up with varied stressors may lead to psychological distress and impede students' pursuits of nursing career. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study is to assess stress and coping strategies among nursing students of Western Rajasthan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-one undergraduate nursing students were recruited for the study through total enumeration. Standardized Student Nurse Stress Index and brief cope scale were used to assess stress and coping strategies. RESULTS: Nearly 82.4% of the students reported moderate level of stress. Interface worries (mean score 17.88 ± 4.9) and academic load (mean score 17.6 ± 4.78) were the major source of perceived stress. Students considered attitude of other professionals toward nursing, lack of free time, and fear of examination as most likely reasons of their distress. Active coping was the most commonly used coping strategies. Level of stress was found to have significant association with the interest of students in nursing. CONCLUSIONS: Interface worries and academic-related concerns emerged as major source of stress. A positive trend was evident in the use of adaptive coping strategies over succumbing meekly. However, there is a great need to plan and implement stress management programs so that these budding health professionals could be better equipped and trained to face various challenges of the profession.
