Stress Among Healthcare Workers (Doctors and Nurses) as an Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

Aim: First aim is to measure the magnitude of stress due to COVID-19 among Healthcare workers (HCWs). Secondly, personal and professional factors associated to their psychological health will be explored. Thirdly, stress levels of front-line and second-line HCWs will be comparedMethod: This cross-sectional, direct questionnaire-based survey was carried out in Portiuncula hospital between 18th May 2021 to 5th June 2021. From 184 HCWs- doctors and nurses, 148 participated in the survey. HCWs were taken from Anaesthetics/ICU, ED, Gynaecology and Surgery department.Result: Nurses, married and frontline HCWs were found to have more stress ‘some of the times’ 46(46.9%), 151(48.6%), and 37(46.3%) respectively. Around half of the female HCWs 52(49.5%) suffered from mental stress compared to males. Irish and Middle aged HCWs (31-50 years) were more stressed than their counterparts. Frontline HCWs were shown to have 2.65 times more mental stress (CI: 1.24-5.67; p=0.012) than second-line HCWs. Besides, physical stress was 1.55 times (CI: 0.72-3.31; p=0.26) more in frontline compared to second-line HCWs.Conclusion: Frontline HCWs are more stressed mentally and physically than second-line HCWs due to COVID-19. Middle aged, married, females and frontline nurses are in state of distress compared to their counterparts. Fear of transmitting infection to family members was the main consternation amongst HCWs. Psychological support is imperative to overcome stress and mental exhaustion caused by the pandemic.Funding Information: This study is not funded by any organization. Declaration of Interests: Author declares no conflict of interest.Ethics Approval Statement: Ethics approval was obtained from Research Ethics Committee, Galway Ref: C.A. 2369). Informed written consent was acquired from each participant. The survey was based on anonymous data collection, where identity was not revealed at any point.