Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Mental Health in Nurses from Huelva: A Cross-Cutting Study during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 25;18(15):7860. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18157860.

Abstract

Currently, healthcare professionals are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the SARS-CoV-2pandemic since they directly deal with patients suffering from this disease and are in the first line of fire, which increases their risk of contagion. This research examines the prevalence of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and possible non-psychotic psychiatric disorders in 48 male and 270 female nursing professionals of Huelva during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we analyzed the relationship between these dependent variables and considered various sociodemographic variables. The nursing staff of public hospitals in Huelva who have had contact with cases of SARS-CoV-2 in their work environment showed a poorer state of mental health than that of others of this same professional category who have not had contact with this type of situation.

Keywords: coronavirus infections; mental health; nursing staff; pandemics; professional burnout.

MeSH terms

  • Burnout, Professional* / epidemiology
  • COVID-19*
  • Depersonalization
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Health
  • Nurses*
  • Pandemics
  • SARS-CoV-2