The psychological experiences of Lebanese ground zero front-line nurses during the most recent COVID-19 outbreak post Beirut blast: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

For the past 2 months the number of COVID-19 cases in Lebanon has been on the rise, while frontline nurses after the Beirut Blast of August 4th have been practicing through limited resources and a challenging context.

AIM

This paper aims at exploring the psychological experiences of Lebanese frontline nurses serving at ground zero hospital during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

SETTING

This study was carried out in three main ground-zero hospitals in Beirut which are receiving COVID-19 cases.

METHOD

This study have employed a phenomenological exploratory qualitative research design, where virtual interviews were conducted with 18 frontline nurses during the second week of January 2021.

RESULTS

Thematic analysis of the data expressed by the frontline nurses working in the approached ground-zero hospitals gave rise to five themes, namely 'helplessness and impending doom', 'increased mortality rates and depressive mood', 'fear of death and obsessive thinking', 'flashbacks, panic, and incompetence', and 'public recklessness, governmental responsibility, and anger'.

CONCLUSION

The frontline nurses working at ground zero hospitals in Beirut are facing significant psychological challenges that should be mediated by the government and health policymakers in order to safeguard the quality of care and avoid higher mortality rates.

State anxiety levels of nurses providing care to patients with COVID-19 in Turkey

PURPOSE

This study investigates the state anxiety levels of nurses providing care to patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study is based on the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to collect the study data.

FINDINGS

Nurses' state anxiety levels were high (51.51 ± 9.94). Participants evaluated for state anxiety were female; who were married; worked in intensive care units; were service nurses, having more professional experiences; and experienced hand irritation (p < 0.05).

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The mental health of nurses providing primary care to patients with COVID-19 should be evaluated in the long term.

The Persian COVID stress scales (Persian-CSS) and COVID-19-related stress reactions in patients with obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders

The COVID Stress Scales (CSS) were designed to assess stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging evidence indicates that people with anxiety disorders (ADs) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be more negatively impacted by COVID-19 than those with mood disorders or healthy individuals. Accordingly, this study sought to validate the Persian CSS (Persian-CSS) and to compare COVID-19-related stress reactions among patients with specific ADs and OCD. Patients with OCD (n = 300) and ADs (n = 310) completed the Persian-CSS and other scales developed to assess anxiety-related traits and COVID-19-related distress. The Persian-CSS replicated a five-factor structure similar to the original CSS in OCD and ADs. The total CSS and its scales had good reliability and validity. Patients with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and OCD had higher COVID-19 stress reactions than patients with social anxiety disorder and specific phobia. Patients with panic disorder had higher danger and contamination fears and xenophobia than patients with OCD. The study suggests that the Persian-CSS is a valid scale to be used in patients with OCD and ADs, each of whom differs in their specific patterns of COVID-19-related stress reactions.