Level of psychological and general wellbeing among nurses who worked in COVID-19 wards of selected tertiary care hospital, Puducherry district

Abstract

Background: The current Covid-19 pandemic is caused by a corona virus named SARS-CoV-2. Nurses play a crucial role in health care and are often the unseen heroes in health care facilities and emergency responses. During outbreaks of new infectious diseases such as Covid-19, uncertainty, anxiety and panic spread as the overall situation changes quickly, particularly while the disease is not yet under control. Objectives: To assess the level of psychological and general wellbeing among nurses who worked in COVID-19 wards and to associate the level of Depression, anxiety, stress and general wellbeing of nurses with the selected demographic variables. Methodology: Quantitative Non- Experimental cross-sectional design was used to assess the level of psychological and general wellbeing among nurses who worked in COVID wards. The study was conducted in Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, Puducherry in the month of June and July 2022. 80 staff nurses were selected using convenient sampling technique. Modified Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale- 21 was used to assess the psychological wellbeing; Self structured questionnaire was used to assess the general wellbeing among nurses who worked in COVID wards. Results: With regards to depression majority of them 39(48.8%) had mild depression. Regarding to anxiety Majority of them 38 (47.5%) had mild anxiety. Regarding to stress, majority of them 44 (55%) had mild stress and regarding to general wellbeing majority of them 64 (80%) had moderate general wellbeing. There was a significant association between level of depression, anxiety, stress and general wellbeing. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that majority of the staff nurses had mild depression, mild anxiety, mild stress and moderate general wellbeing. Therefore, the study concluded that there is a need for intervention regarding improvement of mental health and wellbeing among staff nurses.