Unpacking the Mental Health of Nurses during COVID-19: Evidence from Pakistan

Xinxing Xu; Faiza Manzoor; Shaoping Jiang; Ayesha Mumtaz

doi:10.3390/jcm10163546

Unpacking the Mental Health of Nurses during COVID-19: Evidence from Pakistan

J Clin Med. 2021 Aug 12;10(16):3546. doi: 10.3390/jcm10163546.

Authors

Xinxing Xu¹, Faiza Manzoor², Shaoping Jiang³, Ayesha Mumtaz⁴

Affiliations

¹ Legislation Research Institution of Zhejiang University, Legislation Research Institution of Zhejiang, Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School, Hangzhou 310008, China.
² Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
³ Guanghua Law School, Zhejiang University, Zhijiang Road, Hangzhou 310008, China.
⁴ College of Public Administration, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.

Abstract

The prime objective of the present study is to test the effect of COVID-19 fear on the mental condition of nurses in the public health sector of Pakistan. This study seeks to measure the psychological distress, anxiety, and psychological well-being of nurses due to fear of COVID-19 and exposure to COVID-19. This research further reveals the moderating role of "social support" in the link between COVID-19 fear, exposure and mental health. Through a convenient sampling technique, 250 sample contributors were chosen from 12 public hospitals. The results were obtained by applying multiple regression and moderation analysis by SPSS and the Hayes process. The outcomes indicated that fear of exposure to COVID-19 affects the mental health of nurses. The findings also discovered that social support is not very constructive in the pandemic. However, we suggested that social support is the best weapon to encourage nurses to relieve their fear and minimize negative emotions.

Keywords: COVID-19 fear; Pakistan; exposure to COVID-19; nurses; psychological well-being; social support.