The emotional impact of COVID-19 on Spanish nurses and potential strategies to reduce it

BACKGROUND: Although the emotional and psychological impact of nurses’ work had been identified before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic aggravated risk indicators for their mental health. AIM: The objective of this study was to analyse the levels of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and burnout of nurses in the Balearic Islands (Spain) during the pandemic to identify possible sociodemographic and related occupational factors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of 892 nurses was conducted during four weeks from February to March 2021. METHODS: Sociodemographic data related to the pandemic were collected and anxiety, depression, burnout and post-traumatic stress were measured with validated scales. A multivariate and predictive analysis was carried out with risk estimates. FINDINGS: About 75.6% of the nurses had experience in COVID-19 units, and 49.1% had worked for more than 10 months in a COVID-19 unit. Nurses in COVID-19 units (hospital ward or ICU) were more likely to report emotional fatigue (OR 1.9, p < 0.001) and anxiety (OR 1.5, p = 0.021). In general, moderate post-traumatic stress was evident in general nurses (p = 0.027), and severe post-traumatic stress was evident in ICU nurses (p = 0.027). A 1.24-month reduction in COVID-19 patient care predicted reduced levels of emotional fatigue (5.45 points), depersonalisation (1.87 points) and post-traumatic stress (4.65 points) in nurses. CONCLUSION: Given the occurrence of new waves of COVID-19, the need to establish preventive strategies that focus on the personal and occupational characteristics related to these indicators and to implement urgent psychological support strategies is demonstrated. IMPACT: Given these findings, it is imperative solutions are urgently applied in order to prevent compounding risk to the health system.