Stress and burnout among Greek critical care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Thiresia Sikioti; Afroditi Zartaloudi; Despoina Pappa; Polyxeni Mangoulia; Evangelos C Fradelos; Freideriki Eleni Kourti; Ioannis Koutelekos; Evangelos Dousis; Nikoletta Margari; Areti Stavropoulou; Eleni Evangelou; Chrysoula Dafogianni

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2023051

Stress and burnout among Greek critical care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

AIMS Public Health. 2023 Sep 7;10(4):755-774. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2023051. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Hellenic Open University, Athens, Greece.
² Faculty of Nursing, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
³ Faculty of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
⁴ Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, Greece.
⁵ Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Abstract

Occupational stress and burnout of health personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially of the nursing population in intensive care units (ICUs), were quite frequent along with negative effects and a direct correlation with the manifestation of many physical, behavioral and psychological symptoms. For the purposes of this research, a quantitative survey was carried out, in which 153 ICU nurses of secondary and tertiary public hospitals in Greece participated. Nurses completed anonymously and voluntarily a special electronic questionnaire about stress, burnout, personal concerns about the pandemic, the consequences of the outbreak and their resilience toward COVID-19 patients' care. Specific validated scales were used in this study. Female nurses felt, to a greater extent than males, work-related burnout, especially patient-related burnout and total burnout. There was a statistically significant negative relationship between the existence of a psychological support group within a hospital and personal burnout. Participants who had experience in caring for SARS-CoV-2 patients had higher mental resilience than those without experience. As the consequences experienced by the health professionals of the reference COVID-19 hospitals were increased, so did mental resilience and stress coping strategies during the pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak and the conditions configurated in the health system had negative effects on the psycho-emotional state of ICU nurses. The manifestation of anxiety, stress and burnout had a direct correlation with both the work and personal functionality of the nurses and the whole of the healthcare services provided. The early recognition of symptoms and their individualized management are imperative for the protection of the psycho-emotional well-being of nurses.

Keywords: COVID-19; burnout; intensive care unit (ICU); job stress; nurses; resilience.