Prevalence of Psychological Distress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Nursing Staff during COVID-19 Epidemic

Background: COVID-19's deadly nature and high infection rate, increasing cases, a lack of
personal protective equipment, extremely demanding workloads, and a lack of appropriate therapies
to save lives can all contribute to psychological distress and can induce post-traumatic stress
disorders among healthcare personnel. Aim of the study: To estimate the prevalence of
psychological distress and posttraumatic stress disorder among nurses caring for COVID 19
patients. Setting: The study was undertaken at Mansoura University Hospital. Design: A descriptive
cross-sectional was used. Subjects: An online Google Form was used to collect a convenience
sample of all duty nurses caring for COVID 19 infected patients from June to September 2020.
Tools: Included three tools: Demographic data, Arabic Version of Davidson Trauma Scale, 17
items, and Arabic Version Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Results: 264 nurses were analysed.
The findings revealed that (91.3%) of the nurses investigated experienced psychological distress,
with (59.1%) were experiencing severe distress. More than two third (68.9%) suffered from post
traumatic stress disorder. Conclusions: The majority of the studied nurses had psychological
distress with more half of them experiencing severe distress and more than two third had
posttraumatic stress disorder with less than half of them had severe level. Recommendations:
Monitoring the short- and long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as
implementing early intervention strategies is critical.