The Effect of Workload Caused by the Pandemic on Depression, Anxiety and Stress Levels in Surgical and Operating Room Nurses

Abstract

have been taken by central authorities and health units around the world. However, it has spread rapidly and caused more than 75 million diagnoses and 1.6 million deaths globally (2). It is known that healthcare professionals are at serious risk and are infected with Covid-19 14 times more than other segments of the ABSTRACT Purpose: To determine the effect of pandemic workload on depression, anxiety and stress levels in surgical and operating room nurses. Methods: study is planed a descriptive and cross-sectional . This study sample was 166 nurses (92% of all surgical nurses) working in surgical units a state hospital, all of whom agreed to participate in this study july 1, 2020.The data were collected by personal information form, the workload Questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21. Number, mean, SD, percentage calculations, t test, ANOVA test, the Spearman correlation test and multivariate linear regresyon were used for data analysis Results: The mean age of the nurses was 38.75±8.38 years, 86% were women, 78% were undergraduate, 63% chose their profession willingly, 64% reported high stress in the pandemic and 64.5% high workload. When nurses who chose voluntarily and nurses who do not voluntarily choose their profession were compared, a statistically highly significant difference was found between the mean workload scores. As a result of the variance analysis performed between the departments (operating room, surgical intensive care units, surgical clinics) and DASS-21 and the mean scores of all subdimensions and workload scales, the difference between the units was found to be statistically significant (p <.05). Conclusion:More attention should be paid to the mental health of surgical nurses after pandemics. It is necessary to reduce the workload in order to prevent post traumatic syndrome. Taking steps to make them psychologically strong will be effective in balancing their mental state.

Living the Covid-19 Pandemic as a Surgical Nurse: A Qualitative Study

“…Araştırmanın verileri, konu ile ilgili literatüre dayalı olarak hazırlanan sosyodemografik özelliklerini içeren "hemşire tanıtım formu" 3,5,[12][13][14]16,17 ve hemşirelerin deneyimlerini belirlemek amacıyla oluşturulan "yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu" 13,14,16…”

“…3 Aksoy ve Koçak (2020) yaptığı çalışmada psikolojik destek sağlama ve sağlık çalışanları için sürekli bir zihinsel sağlık izleme programlarının oluşturulması önerilmektedir . 18 16 Pandemide aktif olarak görev almaya teşvik etme, mesleki kimliklerini ve mesleki uygulamalarda doyum almalarını sağladığı bildirilmektedir. 17,24 Doyum sağlamanın yanı sıra pandemi sürecinde hemşirelerin hasta bakımında daha fazla insiyatif aldıkları ifade edilmektedir.…”

“…6,13 Pandemi sürecinde cerrahi ve ameliyathane hemşireleri ile yapılan bir çalışmada hemşirelerin %64,5'inin yüksek anksiyete yaşadığı bildirilmektedir. 16…”

Factors Affecting COVID-19-Related Fear and Burnout in Surgical Nurses

“…In the studies conducted, it was determined that surgical nurses had problems such as psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, stress, communication difficulties within the team, workload, inadequacy of material and moral support systems, as well as physical and social problems during the pandemic. [ 4 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]. Fereidouni et al [ 7 ] reported a significant relation between job satisfaction and adherence to preventive guides during COVID-19 pandemic in operating room nurses [ 7 ].…”

“…There have not been any studies on factors affecting COVID-19-related fear and burnout in surgical nurses. It is stated in the literature that psychological status of surgical nurses during the pandemic can affect perioperative care [ 9 ]. Therefore, the present study focused on COVID-19-related fear and burnout levels and affecting factors in surgical nurses.…”