Association between coping strategies and professional quality of life in nurses and physicians during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

Caring through crisis: The professional quality of pediatric nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

PURPOSE

This study described pediatric nurses' professional quality of life during COVID-19 and explored demographic/clinical practice factors independently associated with compassion satisfaction (CS), burnout (BO), and secondary traumatic stress (STS).

DESIGN AND METHODS

The Relational Caring Complexity Theory was used. This study employed a cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational design to describe professional quality of life of pediatric nurses (demographic questionnaire and ProQOL 5 measure) working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

From 150 pediatric nurses, the mean scores were CS 40.8 (± 4.8), BO 22.6 (± 4.7), and STS 22.8 (± 5.8). Results of the multiple regression revealed that two variables, deployed to the same unit versus not deployed (β = 2.424, p = .02) and currently practicing in perioperative/ambulation settings versus intensive care (β = -0.272, p = .03), were independently associated with CS. Deployed to the same unit versus not deployed was found to be independently and significantly associated with BO (β = -0.28, p = .005). The number of patients cared for with COVID-19 (β = 0.196, p = .03) was significantly associated with STS.

CONCLUSIONS

While the overall response was positive, these nurses were more likely to experience BO when deployed to the same area (likely a COVID-19 adult unit) and STS as they cared for more patients with COVID-19.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Leaders should be aware of the impact of caring in times of crisis. Decentralized staffing may help meet emergent needs on a particular shift, but ensuring deployed nurses are well-supported is vital.

Psychological status and related factors of resident physicians during the release of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in China

Background

Resident physicians at the standardized training stage had undergone significant physical and mental stress during the release of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions at the end of 2022 in China. This study aimed to investigate the psychological status (including anxiety, depression, somatic symptoms, job burnout, and vicarious trauma) of resident physicians and identify its influencing factors under these special periods.

Methods

Survey was conducted one month after the release of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on resident training physicians from a tertiary first-class hospital in Zhejiang, China. Resident physicians completed the psychological status questionnaire. Chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the group differences and variable associations.

Results

The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and somatic discomfort in this study was 20.88, 28.53, and 41.47%, respectively. Female resident physicians were more likely to experience somatic symptoms [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33-4.18]. Resident physicians with problem-focused coping styles were less prone to psychological health issues [depression (adjusted OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.88-0.96), anxiety (adjusted OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98), somatic symptoms (adjusted OR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.89-0.97), job burnout (adjusted OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.87-0.96) and vicarious trauma (adjusted OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.98)]. Inversely, resident physicians with emotion-focused coping styles and experienced negative life events were more prone to psychological health issues.

Conclusion

Resident training physicians had a high risk of anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms under the special COVID-19 pandemic restriction release period. Females, with lower training stages, degrees, negative life events, and emotion-focused coping styles had a disadvantaged effect on psychological status. The medical teaching management department needs to monitor and reduce the workload and working hours of resident physicians, ensure sufficient sleep time, and pay attention to the psychological status of resident physicians. By strengthening regular communication and mental health education or intervention, which can help them improve their ability to cope with complex tasks.

The moderating effect of care time on care-related characteristics and caregiver burden: differences between formal and informal caregivers of dependent older adults

Objective

This study examined differences in care burden between formal and informal caregivers of dependent older adults according to care-related characteristics, and whether care time had a moderating effect on the relationship between care-related characteristics and caregiver burden.

Methods

Participants were formal (n = 520) and informal caregivers (n = 142) of dependent older adults in South Korea. Caregiver burden was measured using the Korean version of the Zarit Burden Interview. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression with interaction terms and moderation analysis.

Results

Caregiver burden was higher for informal caregivers than formal caregivers. Factors associated with an increased risk of caregiver burden in both formal and informal caregiver of dependent older adults were caregivers' stress, physical strain, and care time. Care time significantly moderated the relationship between care attitude and care burden only among formal caregivers. When formal caregivers' care time was 1 standard deviation higher than the mean value, care attitude was significantly associated with care burden (bsimple = -0.903, SE = 0.106, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The caregiver burden of dependent older adults can be reduced by providing interventions to attenuate the effects of modifiable risk factors that were identified in this study. And to weaken the relationship between care attitude and burden of formal caregivers who have long care hours, a positive social atmosphere for care should be provided in addition to education. To realize sustainable care, policy considerations that reflect the results of this study will help solve the problem of formal and informal caregiver burden of dependent older adults.

"Patient dignity can be ensured by providing adequate health care": A phenomenological analysis on survival strategies of military nurses

Background

The devastating COVID-19 outbreak has considerably influenced basic human healthcare needs. Due to healthcare organizational limitations, workload, and a shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly military nurses in developing countries, faced critical situations in dealing with COVID-19 patients. However, little is known about the survival strategies military nurses used while caring for coronavirus-infected patients.

Aims

This study aimed to investigate the survival strategies that inspired military nurses to manage COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh.

Methods

This study employed the phenomenology of practice framework developed by Max van Manen. Fourteen military nurses were purposefully selected to participate in this study. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted individually from January to February 2023 in three divisional (Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet) COVID-19 dedicated military hospitals in Bangladesh. The study was reported using the COREQ checklist. Audio-video sessions of discussions were recorded, analyzed, and transcribed verbatim. Dataset analysis was performed using thematic analysis.

Results

Eight themes were developed: (i) Nurses' self-strategies; (ii) colleagues' strategies; (iii) Nurse managers' strategies; (iv) Feelings about nursing ethical values; (v) Employers' strategies; (vi) Government strategies; (vii) Family members' strategies; (viii) Strategies of social people.

Conclusions

The study's findings would inspire healthcare professionals to use various survival strategies when facing critical clinical situations. Additionally, this study encourages nurses to develop survival skills to avoid depression, fear, and anxiety and to learn how to deal with work-related stress situations.

A systematic review of studies on stress during the COVID-19 pandemic by visualizing their structure through COOC, VOS viewer, and Cite Space software

Background

The COVID-19 epidemic generated different forms of stress. From this period, there has been a remarkable increase in the quantity of studies on stress conducted by scholars. However, few used bibliometric analyses to focus on overall trends in the field.

Purpose

This study sought to understand the current status and trends in stress development during COVID-19, as well as the main research drives and themes in this field.

Methods

2719 publications from the Web of Science(WOS) core repository on stress during COVID-19 were analyzed by utilizing Co-Occurrence (COOC), VOS viewer, and Cite Space bibliometric software. The overall features of research on stress during COVID-19 were concluded by analyzing the quantity of publications, keywords, countries, and institutions.

Results

The results indicated that the United States had the largest number of publications and collaborated closely with other countries with each other. University of Toronto was the most prolific institution worldwide. Visualization and analysis demonstrated that the influence of stress during COVID-19 on the work, life, mental and spiritual dimensions is a hot research topic. Among other things, the frequency of each keyword in research on stress during COVID-19 increased from 2021 to 2022, and the researchers expanded their scope and study population; the range of subjects included children, nurses, and college students, as well as studies focusing on different types of stress, and emphasizing the handling of stress.

Conclusion

Our findings reveal that the heat of stress research during COVID-19 has declined, and the main research forces come from the United States and China. Additionally, subsequent research should concern more on coping methods with stress, while using more quantitative and qualitative studies in the future.

The Social Values of Nursing Staff and the Perceived Quality of Their Professional Lives

This study's main purpose involves exploring the relationship between the social values of nursing staff and the perception they have of their professional lives. A further aim is to examine how their terms of employment and tenure of service relate to the quality of their careers and their social values. The research consisted of a non-experimental quantitative approach of a descriptive nature involving 380 nursing staff at four public hospitals in Madrid (Spain). The values were appraised by means of the Schwarz Value Survey (SVS) and the quality of their careers was measured through the Quality of Professional Life (QPL-35) questionnaire. The results reveal significant correlations between the two, highlighting the significance of such values as universalism, benevolence, achievement and power depending on their terms of employment, on the one hand, and all the values in the Schwartz model according to the length of their tenure on the other. The findings suggest that terms of employment and tenure are significantly related to the axiological profile of nursing staff and the quality of their professional lives. This study provides major empirical evidence that contributes to our understanding of how social values and the quality of professional lives are interwoven within the field of nursing in Spain.

The Impact of a Psychoeducational Group Program on the Mental Well-Being of Unit-Based Nurse Leaders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial examined the impact of a psychoeducational group program on the mental well-being of unit-based nurse leaders, specifically nurse managers and assistant nurse managers. The program was developed around the themes of resilience, insight, self-compassion, and empowerment to fight burnout and enhance purposeful adaptive coping to reduce distress and improve mental wellbeing. The sample included 77 unit-based nurse leaders. Outcomes included post-traumatic growth, resilience, insight, self-compassion, empowerment, perceived stress, burnout, and job satisfaction. Paired samples t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA tests were conducted to compare outcomes at baseline to the follow-up timepoints of endpoint, one-month follow-up, three-month follow-up, and six-month follow-up. The intervention group participants showed significant improvement in post-traumatic growth between baseline and all follow-up timepoints compared to the waitlist control group. Among intervention group participants, there were also significant improvements in self-reflection and insight, self-compassion, psychological empowerment, and compassion satisfaction, as well as significant reductions in perceived stress, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. This study extends existing evidence that this psychoeducational group program can be an effective intervention for improving and protecting mental wellbeing. Among nurse leaders, it can reduce stress and burnout and improve post-traumatic growth, self-reflection and insight, self-compassion, psychological empowerment, and compassion satisfaction.