Identification of Stressors in Nurses Involved in Caring for Patients with Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of strain on staff and the health care system. The aim of this study was to determine the stressors in nurses involved in caring for COVID-19 patients in the hospitals of Babol University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on nurses working in the care of COVID-19 patients (Rohani and Yahainejad hospitals) in Babol University of Medical Sciences in 2020. The number of samples was estimated using Cochran's statistical formula was 224 people. Then, the proportion of nurses involved in corona in each hospital, stratified sampling of corona departments was done. Data collection tools were a researcher-made questionnaire. The Stressors Questionnaire in Nurses was in five areas (interpersonal, patient care, physical and environmental, individual and managerial) and the questionnaire was about the demographic characteristics. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23 and parametric statistical tests of one-way analysis of variance and independent t-test were also performed in the absence of non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests.

Physical and environmental stressors with an average of 29±10.12 and the patient care stressors with 13.38±5.02 had the highest and lowest intensities of stress, respectively. The most important stressors in nurses are insufficient support (68.2%), high workload (63.9%), tight work schedule (63.5%), heaviness and discomfort of the nurse with protective clothing and boots (63.3%), lack of nurses (61.5%), lack of suitable space to change protective clothing (60.2%), etc. Nurses' occupational stressors were significantly associated with gender, work experience and type of hospital, physical and environmental stressors with shift work, interpersonal stressors with education and patient care stressors with overtime (P<0/05).

Since physical and environmental factors were recognized as the most source of stressors, with appropriate measures, it is possible to eliminate or correct these factors, to help reduce stress and improve the health of nurses.