Global Self-Esteem and Stress Intensity in a Group of Polish Nurses-A Mediatory Role of a Sense of Coherence

Analysis of the Level of Stress and Methods of Coping with Stress among the Nursing Staff

In general, "stress" is the reaction of the body to mental and physical demands placed on it. Stress disrupts mental balance, and reduces the ability to work and function, which negatively affects the performance of duties. The aim of this study was to analyse the level of stress and ways of coping with it among nursing staff. The study covered 220 nurses employed at the Provincial Specialist Hospital in Włocławek. The research tool was the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Brief-COPE. The results of this survey showed the occurrence of average and high levels of experiencing stress in 36% and 40%of staff, respectively. Brief-COPE scale results show that substance use/gender (men) and use of emotional support/place of work (internal medicine department) are significant at p < 0.01. Considering the impact of the workplace on the use of psychoactive substances, it can be seenthat people working in the surgical ward are more likely to use psychoactive substances. Furthermore, nurses in the surgical ward find it easier to think and plan what to do when faced with a difficult life situation. Most often, the respondents with the highest work experience, i.e., the elderly, declared a return to religion. The results of the research indicate that the nursing community experiences stress to an average or significant degree. The strategies are mainly based on active coping and seeking emotional and instrumental support. Further research is needed in this field. This study was not pre-registered on a publicly accessibly registry.

Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Labor-Related Anxiety and Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Pregnant Women?

The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly had significant effects on women’s health and the course of pregnancy. The aim of this single-center study was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adult pregnant and postpartum women’s mental health, as well as to identify factors associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety and fear of delivery. The 465 women included in this questionnaire-based cohort study were divided into two groups: one (controls) of women who gave birth before (n = 190), and the second who were pregnant and delivered during the pandemic (n = 275). The COVID-19 pandemic affected the severity of self-reported anxiety regarding childbirth (mean scores 2.7 vs. 2.36, p = 0.01). The depression (19.84 ± 13.23) and anxiety (16.71 ± 12.53) scores were higher in pregnant women during the COVID 19 pandemic, compared to women who gave birth before the pandemic (8.21 ± 7.38 and 11.67 ± 9.23, respectively). These findings demonstrate the magnitude of the pandemic’s impact on women’s mental health, and actions to improve the mental health of pregnant women in Poland may be crucial for maternal and fetal well-being.

Clocking out: Nurses refusing to work in a time of pandemic

Social science research has long critiqued how professional ideals of public service can ignore chronic problems within the healthcare industry, placing unfair burden on the "heroism" of individual workers. Yet, fewer studies investigate how healthcare professionals actively negotiate such demands for service, amidst increasing workplace pressures and risks. This paper studies Filipino nurses' response to a government policy that banned them from working overseas in order to channel their labor to local hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on 51 in-depth interviews, we argue that nurses' willingness to serve in the Philippines' COVID-19 hospitals hinged on the point at which the deployment ban interrupted their emigration trajectories. Specifically, nurses' decision to heed their government's call to service depended on whether they saw local hospital experience as valuable for their plans of working abroad. We introduce the concept of "clocking out" to describe how aspiring nurse migrants set limits to the time they devote to local service, as they pursue a career pathway beyond national borders. We discuss how this concept can inform scholarship on nurse retention and professional values, especially for developing nations in times of crisis.