Alterations in psychophysiological responses to stress among Nurses working in COVID & General wards

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has meaningfully impacted the psychophysiological wellbeing of frontline healthcare workers, including nurses, midwives, doctors, technicians and ambulance drivers. This ruthless disease has created stress and fear among nurses, potentially affecting their psychological and physical wellbeing, particularly those who work directly with COVID patients. The current study was designed to identify the impact of stress and fear via alterations in psychophysiological responses among COVID and general ward nurses.

Methodology: A total of 50 nurses, 25 from the COVID ward and 25 from the general wards, were recruited from 4 tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), respiratory rate (RR) and Galvanic skin response (GSR) were recorded in resting state using Brain Annova® data acquisition system. The stress level of the participants was examined using the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) and fear of the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated using the Fear for COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S).

Results: The mean SBP, DBP, HR, RR, PSS Score and GSR (Amp ~ K) of nurses working in the COVID ward was (135+7.86, 81+8.27, 89.76±8.08, 21+6.36, 30.23+5.98 and 875.9±284.5 respectively) which were significantly higher than the nurses working in general wards (128±7.58, 79±6.63, 81.43±9.17, 17+4.23, 17.45±2.57 and 598.8±189.2 respectively).

Conclusion: The results revealed that the stress and fear levels were significantly different among the two groups. However, both groups showed alterations in psychophysiological responses due to the uncertain COVID situation and its related threats. Therefore, the nurses working in COVID wards are at more risk of developing mental and physical health problems due to higher levels of stress and fear.