Analysis of the Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Nursing Staff of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Spain
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Aims and Study Design
2.2. Population and Scope of the Study
2.3. Instrument, Data Collection, and Procedure
- Perception of working conditions during the pandemic: five questions (four yes/no questions and one with five options) aimed to determine the nurses’ opinions regarding the management of the pandemic in their unit, in terms of material and personnel support.
- Work relationships: three questions (two yes/no and one with different answer options) about the impact on the relationship between co-workers, difficulty in concentrating, and impact on work performance and, therefore, the health care provided.
- Perception of the state of mental health: we inquired regarding the feelings and mental states experienced by the health workers, such as worry, mental fatigue, sleep problems, fear, anxiety, psychological stress, and depression. In addition, nurses were also asked about psychological or psychiatric help (if they had to seek it, as well as if they were aware of the free services offered by the hospital) and the use of psychotropic medication. This section consisted of 11 questions, of which, eight had different options, and three were yes/no questions.
- Life events: whether they have suffered any traumatic event related to the pandemic, such as personal or family infection, admission, or death, due to COVID-19. It consisted of two yes/no response items.
- Social relations: focused on determining the social impact that the situation has had on professionals and their immediate environment. It was about the fear of infecting someone close to them, as well as whether drastic measures have been used to avoid it, they had people in their environment who were at risk of the disease, they were at risk, or they felt their relationships have been affected. This section consists of five yes/no response items.
2.4. Study Variables
2.5. Statistical Procedures
2.6. Ethical Considerations
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | n (%) |
---|---|
Sex | |
Woman | 403 (88.4) |
Man | 53 (11.6) |
Age | |
<30 years | 283 (62.1) |
30–40 years | 119 (26.1) |
>40 years | 54 (11.8) |
Employment relationship | |
Temporary | 325 (71.3) |
Interim | 70 (15.4) |
Fixed | 61 (13.4) |
Indicate in which wave of the pandemic you have worked in the Intensive Care Unit | |
In all waves | 191 (41.9) |
Only in some | 265 (58.1) |
COVID-19 infection | |
Yes | 101 (22.1) |
No | 355 (77.9) |
Person at risk in close proximity | |
Yes | 405 (88.8) |
No | 51 (11.2) |
What do you consider your level of exposure has been within the unit? | |
Very high | 290 (63.6) |
High | 114 (25) |
Medium | 38 (8.3) |
Low | 11 (2.4) |
Very Low | 3 (0.7) |
How has the relationship with your colleagues been? | |
Better | 352 (77.2) |
The same as always | 62 (13.6) |
Worst | 42 (9.2) |
Do you think you have been provided with adequate working conditions to cope with the situation since the beginning of the pandemic? | |
Yes | 97 (21.3) |
No | 359 (78.7) |
Have you been provided with all the assistance you have needed, both material and personnel? | |
Yes | 147 (32.2) |
No | 309 (67.8) |
Do you think our healthcare system was prepared for this situation? | |
Yes | 7 (1.5) |
No | 449 (98.5) |
Have you experienced any traumatic events related to the pandemic? | |
Yes | 169 (37.1) |
No | 287 (62.9) |
Variable | n (%) |
---|---|
Have you felt more worried (either about your health or your family’s health, work or anything related to the pandemic)? | |
Much more | 358 (78.5) |
More | 89 (19.5) |
Equal | 8 (1.8) |
No | 1 (0.2) |
Have you experienced difficulties in focusing on your work? | |
Yes | 242 (53.1) |
No | 214 (46.9) |
Have you felt more tired? | |
Much more | 373 (81.8) |
More | 80 (17.5) |
Equal | 2 (0.4) |
No | 1 (0.2) |
Have you had sleep problems? | |
Much more | 206 (45.2) |
More | 184 (40.4) |
Equal | 20 (4.4) |
No | 46 (10.1) |
Have you ever felt fear? To what degree? | |
Much more | 259 (56.8) |
More | 178 (39) |
Equal | 12 (2.6) |
No | 7 (1.5) |
Have you experienced fear of infecting your close family/social environment? | |
Yes | 445 (97.6) |
No | 11 (2.4) |
Do you feel that your relationships have been affected to some extent by the situation you have faced? | |
Yes | 423 (92.8) |
No | 33 (7.2) |
Have you changed your behaviour towards those close to you, or even felt compelled to take isolation measures by them? | |
Yes | 429 (94.1) |
No | 27 (5.9) |
Indicate the degree to which you have felt anxiety. | |
Much more | 262 (57.5) |
More | 156 (34.2) |
Equal | 17 (3.7) |
No | 21 (4.6) |
Do you consider that you have suffered psychological stress and to what degree? | |
Much more | 238 (52.2) |
More | 186 (40.8) |
Equal | 11 (4.6) |
No | 21 (2.4) |
Have you ever felt down, depressed or hopeless? | |
Yes | 376 (82.5) |
No | 80 (17.5) |
Have you had times when you felt you had lost your vocation or even considered giving up your job? | |
Yes | 214 (46.9) |
No | 242 (53.1) |
Do you think this has had a negative impact on your job performance, and therefore on the quality of patient care? | |
Yes | 291 (63.8) |
No | 165 (36.2) |
Are you aware of the counselling services offered in your hospital to professionals? | |
Yes | 239 (52.4) |
No | 217 (47.6) |
Have you had to seek psychological or psychiatric help? | |
Yes | 82 (18) |
No | 205 (45) |
No, but I think I need it | 169 (37) |
Has the use of psychotropic medicines increased? | |
Yes | 83 (18.2) |
I consume the same | 33 (7.2) |
Non-consumption | 340 (4.6) |
Question | D1 | D2 | D3 |
---|---|---|---|
Have you felt more worried (either about your health or your family’s health, work or anything related to the pandemic)? | 0.808 | ||
Have you felt more fear? | 0.805 | ||
Have you felt more tired or exhausted? | 0.507 | ||
Have you had sleep problems? | 0.636 | ||
Indicate the degree to which you have felt anxiety. | 0.727 | ||
Do you consider that you have suffered psychological stress, and to what degree? | 0.783 | ||
Have you ever felt down, depressed, or hopeless? | 0.495 | ||
Have you had to seek psychological or psychiatric help? | 0.685 | ||
Have you experienced difficulties in focusing on your work? | 0.696 | ||
Do you think this has had a negative impact on your job performance, and therefore on the quality of patient care? | 0.817 | ||
Have you had times when you felt you had lost your vocation or even considered giving up your job? | 0.507 |
Sex | Age | Employment Relationship | All Waves Working | Risk Person Near | Degree of Exposure | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Question | Chi2 | p-Value | Chi2 | p-Value | Chi2 | p-Value | Chi2 | p-Value | Chi2 | p-Value | Chi2 | p-Value |
Worried | 0.047 | 0.828 | 1.481 | 0.477 | 3.361 | 0.186 | 0.203 | 0.652 | 6.484 | 0.011 * | 4.718 | 0.095 |
Tired | 1.612 | 0.204 | 2.072 | 0.355 | 10.381 | 0.006 * | 5.160 | 0.023 * | 2.049 | 0.152 | 5.752 | 0.056 |
Sleep problems | 3.044 | 0.081 | 0.222 | 0.895 | 0.906 | 0.636 | 0.190 | 0.663 | 3.167 | 0.075 | 0.368 | 0.832 |
Fear | 0.838 | 0.360 | 4.322 | 0.115 | 1.199 | 0.549 | 0.454 | 0.501 | 1.416 | 0.234 | 8.075 | 0.018 * |
Anxiety | 4.850 | 0.028 * | 2.652 | 0.265 | 1.504 | 0.471 | 2.209 | 0.137 | 0.044 | 0.834 | 5.355 | 0.069 |
Stress | 0.236 | 0.627 | 1.586 | 0.452 | 2.543 | 0.280 | 1.615 | 0.204 | 0.034 | 0.854 | 8.438 | 0.015 * |
Felt down | 1.077 | 0.299 | 13.251 | 0.001 * | 6.155 | 0.046 * | 0.392 | 0.531 | 1.422 | 0.233 | 1.831 | 0.400 |
Unfocused | 0.065 | 0.798 | 10.470 | 0.005 * | 8.244 | 0.016 * | 0.067 | 0.795 | 0.378 | 0.539 | 0.990 | 0.610 |
Negative performance | 0.736 | 0.391 | 6.620 | 0.037 * | 4.204 | 0.122 | 0.378 | 0.539 | 5.312 | 0.021 * | 2.314 | 0.314 |
Vocation | 2.035 | 0.154 | 9.022 | 0.011 * | 1.634 | 0.442 | 0.478 | 0.489 | 3.261 | 0.071 | 2.395 | 0.302 |
Psychological help | 0.869 | 0.351 | 4.426 | 0.109 | 0.420 | 0.811 | 0.001 | 0.989 | 4.462 | 0.035 * | 2.985 | 0.225 |
Sex | Age | Employment Relationship | All Waves Working | Risk Person Near | Degree of Exposure | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dimension | t | p-Value | F | p-Value | F | p-Value | t | p-Value | t | p-Value | F | p-Value |
D1 | 0.448 | 0.654 | 2.715 | 0.067 | 1.679 | 0.188 | 0.306 | 0.759 | 1.867 | 0.062 | 2.582 | 0.077 |
D2 | 1.821 | 0.069 | 0.868 | 0.420 | 0.694 | 0.500 | −1.450 | 0.148 | 0.568 | 0.570 | 2.396 | 0.092 |
D3 | 0.244 | 0.808 | 8.926 | 0.000 * | 6.813 | 0.001 * | 0.641 | 0.522 | −1.116 | 0.265 | 0.285 | 0.752 |
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Muñoz-Muñoz, M.; Carretero-Bravo, J.; Pérez-Muñoz, C.; Díaz-Rodríguez, M. Analysis of the Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Nursing Staff of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Spain. Healthcare 2022, 10, 796. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050796
Muñoz-Muñoz M, Carretero-Bravo J, Pérez-Muñoz C, Díaz-Rodríguez M. Analysis of the Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Nursing Staff of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Spain. Healthcare. 2022; 10(5):796. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050796
Chicago/Turabian StyleMuñoz-Muñoz, María, Jesús Carretero-Bravo, Celia Pérez-Muñoz, and Mercedes Díaz-Rodríguez. 2022. "Analysis of the Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Nursing Staff of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Spain" Healthcare 10, no. 5: 796. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050796