Psychological distress among nursing professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic: Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective

To design a systematic map of the production of knowledge, together with national and international literature, on situations of psychological distress that Nursing professionals experience when exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method

A Scoping Review according to the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer's Manual for Scoping Reviews and PRISMA-ScR. Searches were conducted between April and June 2020 in the electronic databases by means of the descriptors; the peer reviewers analyzed the relevance of the studies, selecting those that answered the research question.

Results

A total of 38 studies were selected. The most reported situations of psychological distress were related to work overload, scarcity or absence of individual protective equipment, fear of becoming infected, infecting other people and being in the front line with patients diagnosed or suspected for COVID-19. The most common signs and symptoms for psychological distress were the following: anxiety, depression, insomnia, stress, post-traumatic stress and fear.

Conclusions and implications for the practice

Nursing professionals face situations of psychological distress, mainly triggered by factors related to work conditions, manifesting depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress, which may remain for a long period. Health institutions had to implement training, protection and security actions, as well as psychosocial help and support in a short period of time.

Keywords:
Nurse Practitioners; Nursing, Team; Stress, Psychological; Mental Health; COVID-19