scholarly journals Influence of nursing staff working hours on stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Hoedl ◽  
Silvia Bauer ◽  
Doris Eglseer
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Stress Levels

Abstract Background Working as a nurse means being able to provide high-quality care 24/7. Studies have shown that the average number of working hours per week is a significant predictor of stress and that the severity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the nurses’ stress levels. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the nursing staff’s working hours during the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived level of stress. Method We carried out an online cross-sectional survey and measured the stress level with the perceived stress scale. Results Most of the nurses experienced a moderate level of stress. We identified a statistically significant association between increased numbers of working hours per week and the nurses’ perceived stress level. In addition, 15% of the nurses who had worked more than 40 h reported experiencing a high level of stress. Conclusion These results reflect the negative consequences of prolonged working hours. For this reason, a (inter)national discussion is needed on the topic of restricting the working hours of healthcare workers during such pandemics. This discussion can improve the health and safety of healthcare workers, patients and members of the general population.

scholarly journals Influence of nursing staff working hours on the stress level during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional online survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Hoedl ◽  
Silvia Bauer ◽  
Doris Eglseer
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Cross Sectional

Background: Working as a nurse means being responsive and highly accountable 24/7 and to be able to offer high-quality care, specifically during pandemics. Studies have shown that the average number of working hours per week is a significant predictor of stress and that the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the nurses stress levels. Objective: Therefore, we investigated (1) if a change had occurred in the nurses working hours during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the hours employed and (2) the influence of the nursing staffs working hours during COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived level of stress. Design: We used an online survey in this Austrian cross-sectional study, distributed using a snowball sampling method. Participants and methods: In the online survey, we asked the nurses many relevant questions, including how many hours they are employed per week and how many hours they had worked on average per week since the outbreak of COVID-19. We used the Perceived Stress scale to measure stress level among these nurses. Data were collected between mid-May and mid-July 2020. Results: Three-quarters of the 2600 participating nurses reported changes in their working hours during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nursing staffs hours of employment were statistically significantly associated with their average number of working hours during the COVID-19 pandemic. About two-thirds of the nurses who were employed either less than 10 hours or for 31-40 hours worked for more than 40 hours. Most of the nurses experienced a moderate level of stress. We identified a statistically significant association between increasing the number of working hours per week and the nurses perceived stress level. In addition, 15% of the nurses who had worked more than 40 hours reported experiencing a high level of stress. In addition, we found that nurses who worked more hours during the pandemic experienced higher stress than nurses who reduced their working hours or kept the same working hours. Conclusions: We found a statistically significant association between an increase in the nursing staffs working hours and their level of stress. We believe that these results reflect the negative consequences of prolonged working hours. For this reason, a (inter-)national discussion is needed on the topic of restricting the working hours of healthcare workers during such pandemics. This discussion can improve the health and safety of the health care workers, the patients, as well as members of the general population.

scholarly journals Impact of the COVID-19 on Emergency Department Workload and Emergency Care Workers’ Psychosocial Stress in a Local Pandemic Area

Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 1274
Author(s):  
In-Hwan Yeo ◽  
Yun-Jeong Kim ◽  
Jong-Kun Kim ◽  
Dong-Eun Lee ◽  
Jae-Young Choe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Optimal Care ◽  
Cross Sectional

Background and Objectives: Due to the unexpected spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there was a serious crisis of emergency medical system collapse. Healthcare workers working in the emergency department were faced with psychosocial stress and workload changes. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of healthcare workers in the emergency department in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, Korea, from November 16 to 25, 2020. In the survey, we assessed the general characteristics of the respondents; changes in the working conditions before and after the COVID-19 pandemic; and resulting post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety statuses using 49 questions. Results: A total of 529 responses were collected, and 520 responses were included for the final analyses. Changes in working conditions and other factors due to COVID-19 varied by emergency department level, region and disease group. Working hours, intensity, role changes, depression and anxiety scores were higher in the higher level emergency department. Isolation ward insufficiency and the risk of infection felt by healthcare workers tended to increase in the lower level emergency department. Treatment and transfer delay were higher in the fever and respiratory disease groups (M = 3.58, SD = 1.18; M = 4.08, SD = 0.95), respectively. In all the disease groups, both treatment and transfer were delayed more in Gyeongbuk than in Daegu. Conclusions: Different goals should be pursued by the levels and region of the emergency department to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and promote optimal care.

scholarly journals Stress level and sleep quality of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Şebnem Bilgiç ◽  
Ülfiye Çelikkalp ◽  
Cem Mısırlı
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Family ◽  
Stress Levels

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 infection is transmitted easily and quickly, and nurses constitute the riskiest group of healthcare workers. Therefore, they may experience high levels of stress and sleep problems. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the stress levels and sleep quality of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted with 316 nurses working in a pandemic hospital in a city center. A descriptive form, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to collect data. RESULTS: A positive, moderately significant correlation was found between the average PSQI score of nurses and the average perceived stress score (p≤0.001). Multiple regressions determined that shift work, stress level, a coworker having COVID-19, being out of home due to the risk of transmission, and having a person older than 65 in the home were effective predictors of sleep quality (R2 = 33.5, p≤0.001). Age, years worked, fear of infecting the family with COVID-19, receiving COVID-19 education, regular nutrition, and sleep quality were effective predictors of stress level (R2 = 32.2, p≤0.001). CONCLUSION: It was determined that nurses have low sleep quality and high stress levels during the pandemic process.

scholarly journals At the Razor's Edge: Surgeons have Lower Stress Levels than the General Population

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adonis Nasr ◽  
Iwan Augusto Collaço ◽  
Phillipe Abreu-Reis ◽  
Marília França Madeira Manfrinato ◽  
Flavio Saavedra Tomasich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Medical Specialty ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Lower Stress ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Professional Stress ◽  
Stress Levels

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the stress level in physicians of different levels of formation and to compare it between different medical specialties and the general population. Methods This was a cross-sectional study, using a questionnaire validated in Brazil in 2010, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Results The stress level was higher among surgical doctors in comparison with clinical doctors, regardless of the stage of formation. There was a difference between the sex of the professionals, men showing lower results. None of these was statistically significant. Comparing to the American population or South Brazilian teachers, the medical preceptors presented a significant lower level of stress. Conclusion The medical specialty as well as gender and level of medical formation influence in the professional stress level, being elevated in fields of higher working hours and constant pressure. Descriptors Stress, surgery, residents, medical students. How to cite this article Abreu-Reis P, Nasr A, Tomasich FS, Collaco IA, Bassani T, Clivatti GM, Fontanella AP, Ito JM, Manfrinato MFM, Hammerschmidt I. At the Razor's Edge: Surgeons have Lower Stress Levels than the General Population. Panam J Trauma Crit Care Emerg Surg 2016;5(1):26-30.

scholarly journals Relationship Between Work Loads And Working Conditions With Nursing Stress Levels In Intensive Care Unit

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Edison Siringoringo ◽  
Andi Susilawani ◽  
Lhamsyah
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
A Value ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
Chi Square Test

Nurse workload is all activities carried out by nurses while on duty in a nursing service unit. Working conditions include physical environment variables such as the distribution of working hours, physical conditions in the form of noise, regulations, and demands. Job stress is a condition of tension that causes an imbalance of physical and psychological conditions in employees sourced from individuals and organizations that affect the physical, psychological, behavior of employees. This research method uses analytic research, with a cross-sectional design. The population in this study were nurses on duty in the ICU. The sample in this study amounted to 36 respondents with a sampling technique using the total sampling method. Data is collected by using a questionnaire sheet. Analysis of the data used by using the Chi-Square test. In this study, the results were obtained that the workload was in the bad category of 20 respondents (55.6%) and the working conditions included in the category did not support as many as 22 respondents (61.1%) and the stress level in the moderate category there were 23 respondents (63, 9%). Based on the analysis that has been done using the Chi-Square test, there is a significant relationship between workload with stress levels with a value of P = 0.000 <0.05 and work conditions with nurses' stress levels with a value of P = 0.011 <0.05. There is a relationship between workload and working conditions with the stress level of nurses in the ICU. It is hoped that this research can be used as additional knowledge for the educational institutions of Stikes Panrita Husada Bulukumba.

scholarly journals Association between COVID-19 Pandemic Conditions and Perceived Stress Level among College Students in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
pp. 429-436
Author(s):  
Shaimaa M. Ata ◽  
Manal Eltahir ◽  
Ahad Albadah ◽  
Hind Harun ◽  
Khames T. Alzahrani
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stress Level ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Perceived Stress Scale ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Stress Scale ◽  
Stress Levels

Aims: To assess the levels of perceived stress among college students in Saudi Arabia after changing the learning protocols because of covid-19 pandemic. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Saudi Arabia, from May 2020 to October 2021. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey study that was carried out in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered, pre-designed questionnaire, including Perceived Stress Scale of 10 items was used to measure the stress levels. The participants were selected randomly from different social media users  who lived and studied in Saudi Arabian universities.  In this study, 10-item questions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) was used based on a 5-point Likert scale to score each item (0 = Never 1 = Almost Never 2 = Sometimes 3 = Fairly Often 4 = Very Often). Results: A total of 2034 students living in Saudi Arabia participated in the study. The results showed that 76.84% of total participants had strong stress, males reported higher score as compared to their Female counterparts.  Also, students older than 28 years reported higher level of stress, the students in Qassim region showed highest scores of stress. In addition, excellent academic achievement was strongly associated with high level of stress. Conclusion: The findings suggest that significant number of students had higher stress levels using the perceived stress scale. Therefore, this cross-sectional study identified a high stress level in COVID-19 crisis among university students in Saudi Arabia.

scholarly journals Adherence to protective measures among healthcare workers in the UK: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
pp. emermed-2021-211454
Author(s):  
Louise E Smith ◽  
Danai Serfioti ◽  
Dale Weston ◽  
Neil Greenberg ◽  
G James Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Protective Behaviours

BackgroundHealthcare workers (HCWs) are frontline responders to emergency infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19. To avoid the rapid spread of disease, adherence to protective measures is paramount. We investigated rates of correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene and physical distancing in UK HCWs who had been to their workplace at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and factors associated with adherence.MethodsWe used an online cross-sectional survey of 1035 UK healthcare professionals (data collected 12–16 June 2020). We excluded those who had not been to their workplace in the previous 6 weeks, leaving us with a sample size of 831. Respondents were asked about their use of PPE, hand hygiene and physical distancing in the workplace. Frequency of uptake was reported descriptively; adjusted logistic regressions were used to separately investigate factors associated with adherence to use of PPE, maintaining good hand hygiene and physical distancing from colleagues.ResultsAdherence to personal protective measures was suboptimal (PPE use: 80.0%, 95% CI 77.3 to 82.8; hand hygiene: 67.8%, 95% CI 64.6 to 71.0; coming into close contact with colleagues: 74.7%, 95% CI 71.7 to 77.7). Adherence to PPE use was associated with having received training about health and safety in the workplace for COVID-19, greater perceived social pressure to adopt the behaviour and availability of PPE. Non-adherence was associated with fatalism about COVID-19 and greater perceived difficulty of adopting protective measures. Workplace design using markings to facilitate distancing was associated with adherence to physical distancing.ConclusionsUptake of personal protective behaviours among UK HCWs at the start of the pandemic was variable. Factors associated with adherence provide insight into ways to support HCWs to adopt personal protective behaviours, such as ensuring that adequate PPE is available and designing workplaces to facilitate physical distancing.

scholarly journals Prevalence and factors associated with Perceived stress among the general population in Pakistan during Corona-virus disease 2019

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir ◽  
Ghazal Peerwani ◽  
Syed Iqbal Azam ◽  
Apsara Ali Nathwani ◽  
Romaina Iqbal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Maximum Level ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pakistani Population ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Stress Levels

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has paved the way for psychological crises, especially in resource-limited settings where mental health infrastructure is already crippled. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with perceived-stress in the Pakistani population during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1679 Pakistani residents who received the study questionnaire's Google form link. A validated tool of perceived-stress scale-10 was used to screen perceived stress levels. Multiple Ordinal Regression was used to identify the factors associated perceived stress and the results are reported as adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results: The mean score of perceived stress was 19.32 (SD=+6.67). Most of the participants screened positive for moderate (69%) and high levels (14%) of stress, respectively. A significant interaction was seen between generalized-anxiety and the phase of the lockdown. During the complete lockdown, the odds of high-perceived stress among severely anxious participants were 44.67(95% CI: 21.33, 93.53) times than participants with no/minimal generalized anxiety. Moreover, the odds of high levels of perceived-stress among moderately anxious respondents were 15.79(95% CI: 10.19-24.28) times compared to participants with no/minimal anxiety during the smart lockdown. Conclusion: This study evidences that the pandemic was extremely distressing for the Pakistani population causing the maximum level of perceived-stress in more than half of the population. Adequate and timely interventions are needed before high-stress levels culminate into psychological disorders.

scholarly journals Perceived Stress During the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak: Results From Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in Estonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Reile ◽  
Lembe Kullamaa ◽  
Reeli Hallik ◽  
Kaire Innos ◽  
Maarja Kukk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
Health Related

Objective: To study the population-level mental health responses during the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Estonia and analyze its socio-demographic, behavioral, and health-related variations among general population.Methods: This study used nationally representative data on 4,606 individuals, aged 18–79 years from a rapid-response cross-sectional survey conducted in April 2020. Point prevalence and mutually adjusted prevalence rate ratios for perceived stress from log-binomial regression analysis were presented for socio-demographic, behavioral, and health-related variables.Results: This study found that 52.2% of population aged 18–79 reported elevated stress levels in relation to COVID-19 outbreak. Higher levels of perceived stress were found in women, in younger age groups, in Estonians, and in those with higher self-perceived infection risk, presence of respiratory symptoms, and less than optimal health, according to self-reports.Conclusion: Although, the potential long-term health effects of the current crisis are yet unknown, the alarmingly high stress levels among people indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic might have had a widespread effect on people's mental health.

scholarly journals Burden and factors associated with Perceived stress among the general population in Pakistan during the Corona-virus disease 2019

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir ◽  
Ghazal Peerwani ◽  
Syed Iqbal Azam ◽  
Apsara Ali Nathwani ◽  
Romaina Iqbal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Maximum Level ◽  
Generalized Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pakistani Population ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Stress Levels

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has paved the way for psychological crises, especially in resource-limited settings where mental health infrastructure is already crippled. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with perceived stress in the Pakistani population during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1679 Pakistani residents who received the study questionnaire's Google form link. We used a validated tool of perceived-stress scale-10 to screen perceived stress levels. Multiple Ordinal Regression was used to identify the factors associated with perceived stress, and the results are reported as adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results: The mean score of perceived stress was 19.32 (SD=+6.67). Most of the participants screened positive for moderate (69%) and high levels (14%) of stress, respectively. A significant interaction was seen between generalized-anxiety and the phase of the lockdown. The odds of high-perceived stress among severely anxious participants were 44.67(95% CI: 21.33, 93.53) times than participants with no/minimal generalized anxiety during the complete lockdown. Moreover, the odds of high levels of perceived-stress among moderately anxious respondents were 15.79(95% CI: 10.19-24.28) times compared to participants with no/minimal anxiety during the smart lockdown. Conclusion: This study evidences that the pandemic was highly distressing for the Pakistani population causing the maximum level of perceived-stress in more than half of the population. Adequate and timely interventions are needed before high-stress levels culminate into psychological disorders.

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