ObjectiveThis meta-review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of overall mental health of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodWe conducted a comprehensive literature search on Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE. A predefined eligibility criterion was used to screen the articles. The methodology quality of eligible studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for systematic reviews. The data were narratively synthesised in line with the meta-review aim.ResultForty systematic reviews (represented as K = 40), which reported data from 1,828 primary studies (N) and 3,245,768 participants, met the inclusion criteria. The findings from a pooled prevalence indicate that anxiety (16–41%, K = 30, N = 701), depression (14–37%, K = 28, N = 584), and stress/post-traumatic stress disorder (18.6–56.5%, K = 24, N = 327) were the most prevailing COVID-19 pandemic-related mental health conditions affecting healthcare workers. Other reported concerns included insomnia, burnout, fear, obsessive-compulsive disorder, somatization symptoms, phobia, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts. Considering regions/countries, the highest anxiety was reported in the United-Kingdom [22.3, 95% Confidence Interval (CI):7–38, N = 4] compared to other countries, while the highest depression was in the Middle-East, (41, 95% CI:16–60, N = 5) and stress in the Eastern Mediterranean region (61.6, 95% CI:56.4–66.8, N = 2) compared to other regions. The most significant risk factors include female gender, younger age, being a nurse, and frontline professional. The most-reported coping strategies include individual/group psychological support, family/relative support, training/orientation, and the adequacy of personal protective equipment.ConclusionIt was concluded that healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, allied health) have experienced various mental health issues during COVID-19 pandemic. The meta-review, therefore, recommends targeted interventions and health policies that address specific mental health issues to support health professionals worldwide during the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and similar future health crises.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD4202126200, identifier: CRD42021262001.

Background: There is no comprehensive measure of dimensions describing the nursing relationship that is suitable for use with survey samples and that is focused on nursing particular types of patients. The objective of this study was to develop a measure to investigate significant dimensions of the nurse-patient relationship, the Nursing Relationship Scale (NRS).Methods: Hypothetical cases (diabetes or mental illness) in vignette format were presented to 132 psychiatric and 76 general nurses. Thirty-four questions about the nurse-patient interaction were asked. Principal component analyses (with oblique rotation) were used to identify underlying dimensionality in the correlations of items, combining ratings from the two case vignettes. Scales were constructed from the final solution and Cronbach's alpha coefficients calculated. Subscale score variations were analysed across nurse type and patient type to examine the discriminant validity of the subscales.Results: Principal components analysis revealed five dimensions accounting for 52 percent of the variation within items. Four 'conceptual' factors were derived. These were labeled Caring/Supportive Approach, Nursing Satisfaction, Authoritarian Stance, and Negativity. Developed as subscales, reliability analysis indicated high internal consistency with respective alpha coefficients for the diabetes case 0.91, 0.75, 0.65, and 0.78 and for the mental illness case of 0.91, 0.75, 0.73, and 0.85. There was significant variation in scale scores according to nurse type (psychiatric versus general) and patient type (diabetes versus mental illness). Nurses endorsed more highly items from the subscales Caring/ Supportive Approach and Nursing Satisfaction than items from Authoritarian Stance (with intermediate endorsement) and Negativity (lowest endorsement) subscales.Conclusions: Psychometric evaluation of the NRS suggests it is a reliable instrument for measuring four key dimensions of the nurse-patient relationship and enables the study of this relationship in large samples.

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Background: Stigma of mental illness is often examined in social psychology and psychiatric rehabilitation using attitude studies. Participants of these studies are among health professionals and general public members. A common measure of stigma is using validated scale which measures the opinion on mental illness. Method: A cross-sectional survey was presented to 208 registered nurses. Principal component analyses (with oblique rotation) were used to identify underlying dimensionality in the correlations of items for social distancing. Subscale score variations were analysed across nurse type and ethnicity to examine the discriminant validity of the subscale. Results: Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed one dimension accounting for 43.5% of the variations within items for social distancing. Developed as scale, termed Stigma towards Psychiatric Patients (STPP), reliability analysis indicated high internal consistency with respective alpha coefficient of 0.8. Chinese general nurses scored highest on social distancing than the other three groups: Chinese psychiatric nurses, Anglo general and Anglo psychiatric nurses. Conclusion: Psychometric evaluation of the Stigma Scale (STPP) suggests it is a reliable instrument for measuring social distancing attitudes towards mental illness. The effect of ethnicity on stigmatising attitudes is not entirely accounted for by exposure to people with mental illness.

Background: Problem based learning (PBL) is an innovative way of delivering instruction in which problems are used as the basis of learning. Problem based learning was developed in the 1960s by Harold Barrows at McMaster University Medical School in Canada. Since then, PBL had been implemented as a teaching method in other reputable education institutions internationally, including nursing education. Curriculum reform is proposed through PBL in conjunction with patient simulation in undergraduate nursing education. The first author, Tan Kan Ku, PhD Candidate, MHS (Transcultural Mental Health-by Research) worked as a Registered Nurse for more than two decades internationally in England, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Australia, where she worked as a Case Manager in Community Mental Health Rehabilitation Program. Since 2001, she focused on nurse education and research into the stigma of mental illness from a cross-cultural perspective. Currently, she teaches Mental Health, Cultural Diversity and Research in the Diploma of Nursing course at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, while completing her PhD thesis for examination at Charisma University. The second author, Dr. Michael Ha, FSA, MAAA, CFA, CPA (Australia) FRM, PRM, LLM, is the Founding Director of the MSc Financial Mathematics programme at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University. He was previously Vice President of Strategic Business Initiatives Units at ING Life Insurance in its Taiwan operation. Ninety percent of his students are enrolled in the Financial Mathematics programme. They learn not only mathematics and statistics theories but also their applications in the Finance and Investment areas, especially Portfolio Construction and Financial Risk Management. Creating a real-world Finance work environment in university lecture-halls embracing theories and practice, Dr. Ha strongly believes the PBL method can be employed in the Financial Mathematics training agenda so students can be better-prepared for work. Students are no longer instructed-learners but active thinkers and problem-solvers. Conclusion: Educators in fields such as Medical, Nursing, Engineering, Financial Mathematics, Accounting, Computing, etc., need to be prepared to change their teaching philosophy from didactic to problem solving for PBL to be implemented. Constructive alignment is recommended for curriculum reform.