Study of Resiliency and Its Relationship with Secondary Traumatic Stress During Covid-19 Pandemic among Nursing Staff

Abstract

Nurses are front-line health-care workers for patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms. The aim of this study was to determine the resiliency of nurses and its relationship with secondary stress in pandemic conditions. This cross-sectional study was performed on 233 nurses working in one medical centers providing services to patients with COVID-19 in southeast Iran. The data were collected using demographic questionnaire, ConnorDavidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale from May to August 2020. The data were then analyzed using SPSS 22. The mean and standard deviation of secondary traumatic stress score were 40.82 ± 11.7 in nurses. The results showed that significant relationship between secondary stress score and Job satisfaction. The results of resiliency showed that the mean score of resilience is 60.91 ± 17.1 in nurses. Resiliency score was significantly different according to work experience and exposure to COVID-19 disease. The results of correlation test showed that the overall stress score was significantly related to all aspects of resilience except trust (p <0.05). The results showed that there is a significant and inverse relationship between resiliency score and stress. Therefore, according to the created conditions, it is recommended to design programs to improve resilience and reduce stress of nurses during COVID-19 pandemic.