The Psychological Stress of Intensive Care Unit Nurses During the Covid-19 Pandemic in King Khalid and Central Hospital of Hafr Albatin City

Abstract

Nurses, particularly intensive care nurses, are stressed as a result of the emerging coronavirus illness (COVID-19) epidemic. The pandemic is a calamity that may leave a devastating psychological imprint on nurses, particularly those who are working in intensive care units. The purpose of this study was to look into the psychological stress (PS) of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: the study was cross-sectional exploratory in the nature. Setting of the study: ICU in King Khaled and Central hospital in Hafr Albatin. Subject: convenience sample included (109) nurses both male and female worked in ICU with one year, and trainee nursing students. One tool was used in the study. It includes the questionnaire sheet which gathered information on socio-demographics and clinical data such as gander, age, nationality, residence, level of education, marital status, years of experience. In addition, the clinical history data of studied group include smoking, duration if smoking, and comorbid disease. Moreover, the Warwick Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale modified by researchers to assess of ICU nurse psychological indicators (anxiety, depression, and insomnia). Results:  The third (23.9%) of the percipients age from 36-45 years, and the majority of percipients (73.4%) was male, more than half (69.2%) of subjects represents a bachelor’s degree, and (49.5%) of them have 1-5 years of experience. in addition, half of the participants (50.9%) weren’t had any diseases comorbidities. Most of participant answer often to sentence (I have had energy to spare), large number have (4-6) average number of sleeping hours, and experience (1-2) sleep interruptions. Conclusion: This study found that even extremely robust nurses had some level of psychological stress, including symptoms of sadness, anxiety, and insomnia, as well as perceived stress.