Nurses suffered with more psychological symptoms when fighting against novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19): a longitudinal observational survey of medical staff

Abstract Objective. Our objective is to investigate and analyze the psychological status of medical staff in a designated community hospital for COVID-19. Methods. We conducted a survey on medical staff in a designated community hospital for COVID-19 among the during-pandemic group (n = 120) and the after-pandemic group (n = 34). The symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90) questionnaire was used as a self-report instrument for the measurement of psychopathological complaints. Results. The during-pandemic group consisted of 120 individuals, including doctors (n = 36), nurses (n = 69) and technicians (n = 15). The SCL-90 sum scores showed no difference among doctors, nurses, and technicians (P > 0.05), but the somatization (SOM) item-scores of nurses were significantly higher than those of doctors and technicians (all P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the paranoid ideation (PAR) item-scores of nurses were significantly higher than those of doctors (P < 0.05). The after-pandemic group consisted only of nurses (n = 34). The score of each dimension of SCL-90 in nurses after the pandemic were relatively lower than that in nurses during the pandemic. Conclusions. Our study showed that nurses suffered with more psychological symptoms when fighting against COVID-19. The emergence of COVID-19 was the main factor leading to psychological problems of nurses.