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. 2022 May 25:10:839600.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.839600. eCollection 2022.

Investigating Frontline Nurse Stress: Perceptions of Job Demands, Organizational Support, and Social Support During the Current COVID-19 Pandemic

Haneen Ali  1 , Yasin Fatemi  2 , Duha Ali  2 , Mohammad Hamasha  3 , Sa'd Hamasha  1
Affiliations

Investigating Frontline Nurse Stress: Perceptions of Job Demands, Organizational Support, and Social Support During the Current COVID-19 Pandemic

Haneen Ali et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: While frontline nurses employ coping alternatives to help deal with occupational stress resulting from unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, their access to necessary resources is unclear.

Objective: This study aims to explore nurses' mental health in Alabama hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak and investigate the impact of organizational and community support on nurse stressor levels, physio-psychosocial responses, and coping strategies employed.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was developed to bridge our understanding of stress, support, and coping mechanisms and distributed to nurses working with COVID-19-infected patients in hospital settings in Alabama. A total of 232 frontline nurses responded to 79 items in four domains (stressors, physio-psychosocial symptoms, coping, and support) between May 6, 2020, and June 30, 2020. A two-way ANOVA, regression analysis, and mediation of effects were used to analyze the data.

Results: This study found that both social support and use of coping strategies contributed to the reduction of physio-psychosocial symptoms. Differences were found in how older frontline nurses perceived the efficacy of social support and certain coping strategies. This study provides further evidence of the importance of organizational support in addressing the harmful physio-psychosocial symptoms experienced by nurses.

Keywords: COVID-19; coping strategies; nursing staff; social support; supervisor support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer OA declared a shared affiliation with the author MH to the handling editor at time of review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stress-symptom-support-coping framework for frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Revised framework for frontline nurse stress, symptom, support, and coping.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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