Psychological wellbeing and associated factors among nurses exposed to COVID 19: Findings from a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus pandemic known as COVID-2019 poses a global concern. The psychological well-being of front-line nurses and other healthcare providers is a major concern. AIMS: This study evaluated the psychological well-being and the associated factors among nurses in Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The cross-sectional survey was conducted during the peak period of COVID 19 among 367 nurses recruited from Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. The online survey was used with the snowballing sampling technique to collect the participants’ socio-demographic data and assess their psychological status using DASS-21; in addition, the major traumatic event was assessed by Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and self-efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: 67.7% of the 367 respondents experienced moderate or severe psychological problem; 46.1% reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms; 48.0% moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 48.4% moderate to severe stress levels. The psychological status and influence of a major traumatic event and self-efficacy were statistically significant different among nurses according to age, gender, working experience, marital status, working in a COVID 19 unit or with suspected cases. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses had a significantly increased risk of developing psychological problems, negatively impacted by the major traumatic event and poor self-efficacy.