Emotional Control among Nurses against Work Conditions and the Support Received during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Malinowska-Lipień, Iwona; Wadas, Tadeusz; Sułkowska, Joanna; Suder, Magdalena; Gabryś, Teresa; Kózka, Maria; Gniadek, Agnieszka; Brzostek, Tomasz

Introduction. Working in the state of a pandemic is a huge mental load for the medical environment. Aim. Evaluation of emotional control among nurses against work conditions and the support received during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Material and methods. The research was performed among nurses (n = 577) working during the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infectious (n = 201) and non-infectious (n = 376) wards in 11 Polish hospitals. To evaluate work conditions, the questionnaire prepared by the authors and the Emotional Control Scale (Courtauld Emotional Control Scale—CECS), which rates the control of anger, depression, and fear were used. Results. In the entire research group, fear had the highest rate of suppression among the negative emotions—18.25 points, 17.91 points in infectious wards and 18.44 points among nurses working in non-infectious wards; p > 0.05. The nurses fear was significantly repressed when there was no possibility of the nurses having to perform a COVID-19 test in the workplace; p < 0.05. A larger emotional supressed occurred in nurses who simultaneously declared the perception of increased stress level; p < 0.05. Conclusions. A high level of emotion suppression, especially regarding fear, combined with higher stress levels, occurring irrespective of the ward, points at the need for mental support for the researched nurses.