Emotional impact of COVID-19 on nurses who assisted suspected and infected patients

Abstract

Introduction: in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, health personnel, especially nurses, are undergoing enormous physical and mental effort due to the high demand for care.

Objective: determine the emotional impact of COVID-19 on the nursing staff who cared for patients suspected of being infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the Dr. León Cuervo Rubio, in the period between April and June 2020.

Methods: descriptive, cross-sectional study based on a universe of 43 Nursing graduates and a sample of 31 nurses who provided healthcare to patients suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 at the Dr. León Cuervo Rubio, in the period between April and June 2020. The semi-structured interview, the Goldberg anxiety and depression scale and the psychosomatic problems questionnaire were used as methods to obtain information. Personal, professional and affective-emotional variables were analyzed.

Results: 61.30 % of the sample corresponds to the female sex. 48.38 % were between 37 and 48 years of age. 54.84 % assisted suspicious patients. 83.88% worked 24-hour shifts. 41.94 % had between 11-20 years of work experience. 69.23 % presented anxiety. In 51.61 % the stress range ranged between moderate and severe. The main physiological manifestation of stress was headache in 83.87 %. The fear of contagion emerged as the most significant cause of stress for 100.00% of those evaluated.

Conclusions: evidence of deterioration in the mental health of nursing staff was provided, without reaching psychopathological criteria.