The impact of the covid−19 pandemic on nurses' and physicians' mental health
A literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14528/snr.2022.56.4.3113Keywords:
mental health, covid-19, health impact, risk factors, self-image, fear, pandemia, prevention, physicians, nursesAbstract
Introduction: The covid-19 pandemic is characterised by an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in healthcare professionals. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare professionals.
Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted. The literature search took place from November 2020 to January 2021. The search was conducted in the Pubmed, Ebsco, Ovid and Google Scholar databases, using the following combinations of keywords: self-image, fear, pandemic, prevention, nurses, physicians. The relevant records were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The course of the literature review is shown using the PRISMA diagram. A thematic analysis was conducted with open coding of the results.
Results: From the total search set, 14 articles were selected for final analysis. The prevalence of anxiety among nurses and physicians ranged from 12.3 to 35.6%. The prevalence of anxiety was higher in nurses, with the symptoms of anxiety being significantly lower in male nurses than in their female colleagues.
Discussion and conclusion: The pandemic has left a significant psychological burden on nurses and physicians. There is therefore an urgent need to include preventive psychoeducational measures such as "briefing" and "teambuilding" in supervising mental health of nurses and physicians.
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