Comparison of psychopathology, purpose in life and moral courage between nursing home and hospital healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication date: Aug 07, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected healthcare workers, although the impact may have differed according to different workplace contexts. The aim of this current research was to compare the psychopathology presented by hospital versus nursing home healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyse the predictive role of purpose in life and moral courage in the appearance of psychopathology. This was an observational, cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of 108 healthcare workers, 54 each from a hospital or nursing homes, who were recruited during the 5 and 6th waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Various self-reported scales were used to assess anxiety, depression, acute/post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol abuse, burnout, purpose in life, and moral courage. Compared to the hospital healthcare workers, nursing home healthcare workers had higher scores and a higher prevalence of anxiety (74. 1% vs. 42%), depression (40. 7% vs. 14. 8%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (55. 6% vs. 25. 9). In the overall sample, purpose in life was a protective factor against psychopathology (OR = 0. 54) and burnout (OR = 0. 48); moral courage was a protective factor against depression (OR = 0. 47) and acute stress (OR = 0. 45); and exposure of family/friends to SARS-CoV-2 was a risk factor for acute stress (OR = 2. 24), post-traumatic stress disorder (OR = 1. 33), and higher burnout depersonalisation subscale scores (OR = 1. 84). In conclusion, the increased presence of psychopathology in nursing home healthcare workers may be influenced by workplace and occupational contexts, personal factors such as exposure of family/friends to SARS-CoV-2, or internal dimensions such as purpose in life and moral courage. This knowledge could be useful for understanding how a future epidemic or pandemic might affect the mental health of healthcare workers in different labour contexts.

Open Access PDF

Concepts Keywords
Nursing Adult
Pandemic Anxiety
Spain Burnout, Professional
Workplace Courage
COVID-19
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression
Female
Health Personnel
Healthcare workers
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Moral courage
Morals
Nursing home
Nursing Homes
Pandemics
Psychopathology
Psychopathology
Purpose in life
SARS-CoV-2
Spain
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH COVID-19 pandemic
disease MESH post-traumatic stress disorder
disease MESH alcohol abuse
disease MESH burnout
drug DRUGBANK Coenzyme M
drug DRUGBANK Ethanol
disease MESH Drug Abuse
disease MESH pneumonia
disease MESH emergency
disease MESH infection
drug DRUGBANK Etoperidone
disease VO Gap
disease MESH uncertainty
disease MESH marital status
disease IDO history
disease MESH mental disorders
disease VO vaccination
disease MESH Acute stress disorder
drug DRUGBANK Methionine
disease IDO process
drug DRUGBANK Proline
disease VO vaccine
disease MESH causality
drug DRUGBANK Trestolone
drug DRUGBANK Methyl isocyanate
disease MESH insomnia
disease MESH secondary traumatic stress
drug DRUGBANK Minaprine
drug DRUGBANK (S)-Des-Me-Ampa
disease MESH Burnout Professional

Original Article

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *