Occupational Mental Health: A Study of Work-Related Mental Health among Clinical Nurses

Abstract

Objective: This paper reports a study performed to investigate and assess the mental health as well as the demographic characteristics of nurses to examine their mental health status based on four physical, anxiety, social-function and depression items. Materials and Methods:This descriptive cross-sectional study was accomplished on 86 nurses working at three hospitals, affiliated to Iranian health ministry, in Ilam city(western Iran) all the cases were selected by purposeful sampling method.Data was collected by a two-part questionnaire containing individual data and GHQ -28 Standardized Questionnaire.The GHO-28 was developed by Goldberg, in 1978, as a screening tool to detect those likely to have or be at risk of developing psychiatric disorders. The GHQ-28 is a 28-item measure of emotional distress in medical settings. Analysis was done by SPSS 18 software. Results:The majority of participants were females(50.6 vs.49.4) of 35-40 years old(27.2% ), 84 percent were married(vs.16%), 35.8 percent with 10-15 years of record(vs.33.3% less than 5), 22.2% with 5-10, and 8.6% with more than 15-years of work record. The majority of participants have worked in surgical wards of hospitals. The analysis of GHQ results showed that 43.2%(n=35) of participants were suspected to suffer from mental disorders(vs.56.8% n=46 healthy participants); of all the suspected cases, 12.3% were supposed to have physical symptoms, 16% anxiety symptoms, 42% social dysfunction, and 6.2% symptoms of depression. In general, the participants demonstrated a Mean±SD of mental health score equal to 23.65±9.43. Conclusion:Research results showed that the high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms among nurses is alarming. It was concluded that providing efficient adequate and appropriate support services for this group can result in more healthy nurses as well as promotion of public health.

COVID-19 and the Mental Health of Frontline Nurses: A Cross-sectional Study in Southwestern Iran

“…The findings of the present study showed that 76.3% of frontline nurses were suspected of poor mental health; this rate was significantly higher in our study than in previous mental health surveys done on Iranian nurses under non-COVID-19 conditions (in the study by Dehvan et al, it was 57.35%, and in the study by Taghinejad et al, it was 43.2%) (23,24).…”

Healthcare Workers: Occupational Health Promotion and Patient Safety

“…According to the European Commission [6], some of these psychosocial risks are time pressure; rigid hierarchical structures; lack of gratification and reward; inadequate personnel leadership; lack of relevant information; lack of support from management staff; work-related loads (shift work, night work, irregular working hours); social conflicts, harassment, bullying, violence and discrimination: difficulties in the field of communication and interaction, including the failure to comprehend body language and, work organization which is not ideal (working-time arrangements). In this field, some studies indicated that there are high levels of psychological illness among healthcare workers [15][16][17][18][19]. In accordance, psychosocial and work factors that may contribute to this issue should be analysed in order to better explore healthcare workers wellbeing [20].…”

Situational Anxiety among Nurses

“…Hence, it has a great significance for managers of hospitals to pay special attention to the mental health of nurses (13). According to the statistics published by Iran's Nursing Council, 75% of nurses are suffering from some degrees of mental and physical diseases (14). According to epidemiological surveys, one-third of the population is affected by an anxiety disorder during its lifetime and therefore, anxiety is the most important problem in contemporary times (15).…”