Factors protecting Swiss nurses’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic reached Europe in early 2020 and impacted nurses over a prolonged period, notably causing heavy work overloads. Exposure to sources of stress in such situations is inevitable, which can put nurses’ health at risk. The present study took a salutogenic approach to investigating nurses’ health and the principal factors protecting it found in the literature (i.e., resilience, post-traumatic growth, social support, and certain organizational factors), as well as how those elements evolved from February 2021 to September 2022. Methods All nurses working at eight French-speaking Swiss hospitals who accepted to disseminate the study to their employees were invited to complete an online questionnaire at four time points (February 2021, September 2021, March 2022, and September 2022: T0, T1, T2, and T3, respectively) and respond to items measuring their health, factors protecting their health, and their perceived stress levels. Data were analyzed using random-intercept linear regression models. Results A cumulated total of 1013 responses were collected over all measurement points (625 responses at T0; 153 at T1; 146 at T2; 89 at T3). Results revealed that nurses’ health had not changed significantly between measurements. However, their perceived stress levels, feelings of being supported by their management hierarchies, and belief that they had the means to deliver a high quality of work all diminished. At every measurement point, nurses’ health was negatively associated with perceived stress and positively associated with resilience, perceived social support, and the belief that they were provided with the means to deliver a high quality of work. Conclusion Despite the difficult conditions caused by the pandemic, the factors recognized as protective of nurses’ health played their role. The lack of improvements in nurses’ health in periods when the pandemic’s effects lessened suggests that the pressure they were experiencing did not drop during these moments. This phenomenon may have been due to the need to clear backlogs in scheduled surgery and the work overloads caused by prolonged staff absences and nurses quitting the profession. Monitoring changes in nurses’ health is thus crucial, as is establishing measures that promote factors protective of their health. Organizational factors influencing nurses’ working conditions are also key and should not be neglected.

From Anxiety to Hardiness: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Spanish CCU Nurses in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…On the other hand, the important sample loss between the first and second time point is noteworthy. This sample loss has been found in these types of studies, especially in Health Care Workers (HCWs), and during the COVID-19 pandemic [28,29]. Moreover, as far as the present study is concerned, it is worth recalling the absence of differences in the outcome variables between the participants who did not complete the study (participating only in the first time point, n = 203) and those who completed the study (n = 131).…”

“…The following exclusion criteria were considered: change of service during the study period, working as a nurse manager in the CCU, or working in the pediatric CCU (due to the absence of COVID-19 in infants and newborns). Aware of the usual sample loss in longitudinal studies with this population, in addition to the contextual conditions of data collection (COVID-19 pandemic) [28,29], a minimum sample size of 300 participants was established at the first time point, resulting in a sample of 334 participants in that first period of data collection (between 1 and 21 June 2020). Six months later, in the data collection of the second time point (January-March 2021), 131 nurses out of the 334 maintained their participation, therefore constituting the final sample of this study.…”

Post-Pandemic Insomnia in Healthcare Workers: A Prospective Study including Sociodemographic, Occupational and Psychosocial Variables

“…A minimum sample size of n = 120 for prospective studies was taken as a reference [ 25 ]. However, taking into account the usual sample loss due to the longitudinal nature of the study and adding the complicated circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic in HCWs [ 26 , 27 ], a minimum sample size of 720 participants was established for the first time point. Finally, at that first evaluation stage, we had a total of 1121 HCWs participating in this study.…”

The influence of two decision-making styles on stress perception in military nursing students during clinical practice

“…In clinical practices, students are compelled to make decisions in emergency medical situations. The manner in which these decisions are rendered can be critical in determining whether such situations are perceived as stressful or not [2]. Several sources of stress have been identified in nursing students and recent graduates, including understaffing, overwhelming workloads, and challenging working environments due to shortages of materials and supplies in government healthcare facilities [3].…”

“…In this regard, a fundamental question arises: How do thinking and decision-making styles influence nursing students' perceptions of stressful situations during their clinical practice? [2,12].…”