Stress among Nursing officers during Covid-19 in Govt Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram

Abstract

Nursing officers caring Covid-19 patients are experiencing mental and emotional distress during duty time. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or psychological strain. Stress is your body's response to anything that requires attention or action. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. Healthcare workers, particularly nurses, are at risk for developing psychological distress as a result of direct contact with patients and the increasing work demand during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to assess the stress among Nursing officers during Covid -19 in Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. Non experimental descriptive design was used. A sample of 140 nursing officers were recruited using convenience sampling technique. Data was collected using Socio personal data sheet and a standardized scale, Perceived Stress Scale by Cohen. The scale consists of 10 items with score ranging from 0 to 40. The study was conducted after getting IRC and IEC clearance and informed consent was obtained from study participants. More than half of nurses surveyed were belonged to the age group of 31-40 years (56.4%) with female nurses constituting 83%. Nearly half of the samples were BSc Nursing degree holders (46.4%). More than half of the samples (51.4%) are having an experience between one and five years. The study has found that 76% of the study participants has moderate stress, where as 12% are having mild stress and 12% are having severe stress. The present study showed a significant relationship between stress among nursing officers during Covid -19 and in service training on care of patients with Covid -19. The findings of the study showed the need for stress reduction programmes for nursing officers and ongoing in service training on Covid -19 care.