The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on nursing continues, 80% of these professionals are still dedicated to addressing covid. After two years of health crisis, 84.7% affirm that their mental health has been affected and almost half, 46.4%, have thought at some point of leaving their profession.
Campaign in support of nursing in a pandemic of the General Council of Nursing. Courtesy photo
This is reflected in the largest survey carried out to date by the General Nursing Council, “Radiography of the professional and emotional situation of the nursing profession” during the pandemic with 19,300 nurses (of the 275,000 who work in public and private centers of all Spain) who have answered between January 25 and February 1 of this year.
Most of the respondents belong to public health, 60%, and have 16 or more years of experience.
The study was presented by the president of the General Nursing Council from Spain, Florentino Pérez Raya, who highlighted that these are “shocking” data that show a greater affectation of these professionals compared to other sectors of society, together with “work hardship”.
The mental health of nursing during the pandemic
The study asked about the psychological and mental affectation that nurses may have experienced as a result of the COVID pandemic: depression, anxiety, insomnia, stress, and fear or fear, and 84.7% have been affected by one of the these disorders:
Of all nursing, the most affected emotionally and psychologically are the nurses in critical care units -where the mortality rate is highest-, followed by emergencies and primary care.
The study shows that 16.5% of nurses have been forced to request sick leave due to anxiety, stress or mental exhaustion -especially in the socio-health area (19.1%)-, to which are added the derived from infections.
Close to half of the professionals (48%) have suffered from covid-19 and, of all of them, 14.5% have already been infected two or more times. Its incidence far exceeds that of the general population, around 21%.
Discontent and outrage
98.7% do not feel that their work is valued by politicians nor do they trust that they will give them solutions and as a consequence 91.7% believe that it is necessary to mobilize to achieve solutions to work overload and physical exhaustion and mental health, in addition to improving working conditions.
Thus, 46.4% have thought at some point of leaving their profession, a “shocking” fact that forces us to reflect and adopt improvement measures to provide immediate solutions, according to Pérez Raya.
The area in which more professionals have had this thought is critical care, although the General Nursing Council does not know the exact number of those who have finally taken the step in that direction.
In addition, 28.4% of those surveyed stated that they would not enroll in this career again, a percentage that reaches 30% in the case of those professionals who work in hospitals and ICUs.
And of the 9.3% who are in a position to take early retirement, 63% express their desire to do so. In absolute terms, around 15,000 nurses who, meeting the requirements to retire earlier, even if it means a reduction in their pension, would be willing to do so.
This x-ray of the profession reflects that reality is “very crude” and the lack of social recognition contributes to this.
“Nurses have gone from recognition to total oblivion. We are in an unsustainable situation and it is causing something unthinkable” due to the vocational nature of the profession: abandonment, according to the president of nursing in Spain who has announced mobilizations at the national level.
Covid and workload
Attention to covid is taking over an important part of the activity of the profession to the detriment of the rest of pathologies and patients.
Thus, 79.3% affirm that their health care has to do with covid patients to a greater or lesser extent at the end of each day: 27.1% dedicate almost completely (most of their daily work) and 52 .2% part of their tasks to this type of patient, and only 20.7 of the professionals say they have little or no relationship with the coronavirus.
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