Three-Questions-Method for Coping with the Emotional Burden of Nurses and Nursing Students during COVID-19

Cindy M A de Bot; Annemarie J B M de Vos

doi:10.3390/ijerph19116538

Three-Questions-Method for Coping with the Emotional Burden of Nurses and Nursing Students during COVID-19

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 27;19(11):6538. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19116538.

Authors

Cindy M A de Bot¹, Annemarie J B M de Vos^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Health Studies, Avans University of Applied Sciences, 4818 CR Breda, The Netherlands.
² Amphia Hospital, 4818 CK Breda, The Netherlands.
³ Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, 5022 GC Tilburg, The Netherlands.
⁴ School of Health Studies, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, 5631 BN Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: Nurses and nursing students experienced an emotional burden while working during the COVID-19 outbreak. During the COVID-19 outbreak three questions for nurses working under these extreme circumstances were formulated: 1. What today's events do you remember? 2. How do you feel (physically and mentally)? 3. Do you have enough support? The purpose of this study was to obtain insight into whether nurses and nursing students perceive that the use of the three-questions-method contributes to effective coping with the emotional burden during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods: Focus group interviews were held with hospital nurses (n = 11) and nursing students with internships in mental health care (n = 2), hospital (n = 9), and homecare/nursing home care (n = 3) in September 2020 followed by twenty semi-structured interviews one year later.

Results: Almost all nurses and nursing students named factors that contributed to the emotional burden: fear, powerlessness, frustration, lack of knowledge about COVID-19, and pressure to pass the internship. Participants indicated that using the three-questions-method can help to effectively cope with the emotional burden during and after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Conclusions: Using the three-questions-method offers added value in coping with emotional burden and can be used in education as well as in practice.

Keywords: COVID-19; emotional burden; nurses; nursing students.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Psychological
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Emotions
Focus Groups
Humans
Students, Nursing* / psychology

Grants and funding

Funding of this project (number 10430042010037) was obtained from The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) in June 2020. The funding body was not involved in the design of the study, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or in writing the manuscript.