Impacts of the second wave of Covid-19 in Brazil: a cross-sectional study with nursing students

Abstract

Introduction: The worldwide prevalence of mental disorders points to the need for adequate and urgent holistic responses. The disconnection between science, health and politics before and during the pandemic of COVID-19 undermined the actions and reorganization of the reception and support system, especially for the most vulnerable, women and young people. Objective: To verify the prevalence of anxious, depressive and hopelessness symptoms in academics of a public university during the pandemic period. Methodology: This is an observational, cross-sectional study carried out with 128 undergraduate nursing students from a public university in the state of Paraíba, Brazil from January to March 2021. The recruitment was online and the data collection instrument was prepared on Google Forms with sociodemographic, health and coping strategies questions. Results: The study showed a majority of single female academics with a positive self-perception of health. Nervousness, autonomic symptoms and fear stood out among the anxious symptoms. Regarding depressive symptoms, most reported self-criticism, irritability, fatigue, pessimism and sleep disorders. Positive expectations regarding the future were prevalent in the sample. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the health of the academic community. The students experienced the second wave with psycho-emotional reactions, but also with various coping strategies, mainly related to affective support from family and friends and professional support. The results show the need to investigate daily life, its stressors and risk factors to provide adequate support to promote and maintain the health of these students by approaching protective factors.

Suicidal thoughts and behaviours among student nurses and midwives: A systematic review

“…However, ideation and self‐injury data used for association tests included reports before the pandemic. Among another sample, 10.2% reported suicide ideation within the last week (data collected January–March 2021) (Carneiro et al., 2022). Students reporting ideation reported multiple problems, including sleep disorder (92.3%), using medication (53.9%) and alcohol (53.9%).…”

“…Students reporting ideation reported multiple problems, including sleep disorder (92.3%), using medication (53.9%) and alcohol (53.9%). Over a third (38.5%) reported using mental health services during the pandemic (Carneiro et al., 2022).…”

Sleep Deprivation, Clinical Exposure Anxiety, and Psycho-Emotional State of Nursing Students

“…Anxiety and stress among nursing students are challenges for academic education, and a need exists to explore the factors contributing to such phenomena among Arab cultures (Wang et al, 2019). The students experienced the second wave with psycho-emotional reactions and various coping strategies, mainly related to affective support from family and friends and professional support (Carneiro et al, 2022).…”

The pain of every day: student health before and during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Our team monitored the health conditions of the students of the UFPB and verified the prevalence of self-reported psycho-emotional and neurological disorders before 2 and during the COVID-19 3,4 pandemic to obtain a diagnosis of the local reality. This is a serial cross-sectional survey with data collection in the same population at different times.…”