Role Stress and Psychological Distress Among Chinese Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Model of Social Support and Burnout

Abstract

ObjectiveNurses are at high risk of psychological distress including stress, depression, and anxiety due to low personnel density and high work demand. Despite mounting evidence showing that role stress is a risk factor for nurses' psychological distress, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship are less known. This study tests the mediation effect of burnout in the association between role stress and psychological distress, and whether this mediation is moderated by social support.MethodsA sample of 623 Chinese nurses were recruited from all hepatological surgery departments in Hunan Province and filled out an online questionnaire to collect data on socio-demographics, role stress, burnout, psychological distress, and social support. Mediation and moderation analyses were carried out in SPSS macro-PROCESS.ResultsBurnout partially mediated the positive association between role stress and psychological distress. Social support moderated the indirect effect of role stress on psychological distress via burnout, with the effect being stronger for nurses with low social support than those with high social support.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrated how role stress contributed to nurses' psychological distress both directly and indirectly through burnout, and how this indirect effect was moderated by social support. The results provide important practical implications for future prevention and intervention programs to improve nurses' mental health from multiple aspects such as decreasing role stress and burnout while increasing social support.

The impact of psychological capital on turnover intention among Chinese nurses: A moderated mediation model

“…Nurses with more social support were more likely to have better mental health. A prior study showed that social support moderates the F I G U R E 3 Moderation of social support to psychological distress and turnover intention effect of burnout on psychological distress (Xiao et al, 2022). Social support is thought to improve individuals' relationships, which can help alleviate sadness, stress, and anxiety.…”

Rola przywództwa w rozwiązywaniu problemu wypalenia zawodowego w placówce medycznej

“…Wypalenie było dodatnio skorelowane ze stresem psychicznym (r = 0,51, p < 0,001), ale ujemnie -ze wsparciem społecznym (r = -0,26, p < 0,001). Stres psychiczny był ujemnie powiązany ze wsparciem społecznym (r = -0,36, p < 0,001) (Xiao, Zhang, Li et al 2022).…”

“…Najczęściej wymienianymi przez pielęgniarki i lekarzy wyzwaniami są zwiększone obciążenie pracą i wydłużone godziny pracy, ograniczone zasoby i wsparcie, brak wiedzy i gotowości do reagowania na COVID-19 (w pierwszych miesiącach trwania epidemii) oraz strach przed zakażeniem i zarażeniem bliskich. Wymienione przeszkody i pozostawanie przez dłuższy czas w wysokim napięciu i pobudzeniu emocjonalnym znacząco wpłynęły na zdrowie psychiczne pracowników medycznych, co prowadziło do wypalenia zawodowego (Xiao, Zhang, Li et al, 2022).…”

“…Autorzy badania podkreślili, że wielką wartością badania jest to, że zostało ono przeprowadzone podczas pandemii COVID-19 i jego wyniki mogą stanowić cenne wskazówki dotyczące czynników wypalenia zawodowego oraz możliwości poprawy zdrowia psychicznego wśród personelu medycznego nie tylko w Chinach, lecz także w innych krajach dotkniętych pandemią. Pomoc w zakresie zdrowia psychicznego w 2022 roku jest pilnie potrzebna w opiece zdrowotnej na całym świecie (Xiao, Zhang, Li et al, 2022).…”

A qualitative study of psychological stress among China’s frontline nurses fighting COVID-19

“…This technique can adjust the function of the viscera and the human endocrine system through the meridian system to achieve a balanced functional status [15]. According to a survey, the rate of ear acupoint pressure on beans in the Beijing area is as high as 89.3%, and this method was effective for treating constipation, insomnia, and headaches [16][17][18][19]. We can invite TCM experts from the nursing clinic to perform ear acupoint pressure with beans to frontline nurses to reduce and relieve their anxiety.…”