Improvement in the psychological health of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slykerman, Rebecca F; Li, Eileen; Booth, Roger J

BACKGROUND Nurses are a critical component of any healthcare system. The novel coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an increased workload for nurses and heightened stress. AIMS To assess the psychological health over time of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the factors associated with stress, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing. METHODS Nurses enrolled in the study between 2 July and 26 August 2020 andcompleted questionnaires about stress, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing at baseline and at a second time point T2 12 weeks later. A paired sample t-test was used to examine whether changes in stress, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing were significantly different between baseline and T2. Linear regression models examined factors associated with psychological health outcomes. RESULTS Of the 600 nurses initially enrolled, 484 (80.7%) completed psychological health measures at T2. Stress, anxiety, and poor psychological wellbeing scores were high at baseline. Unexpectedly, stress and psychological wellbeing significantly improved between baseline and T2, while anxiety levels increased. Younger nurses had higher baseline stress and anxiety scores. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the potential beneficial effect of effective public health management of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses' stress and psychological wellbeing and highlights the importance of longitudinal research to understand psychological health in nurses.