ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 global pandemic has put health care professionals under immense pressure and hindered their ability to provide quality services. PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the professional quality of life (ProQOL) among Georgia nurse practitioners during the COVID-19 global pandemic. METHODOLOGY: The ProQOL survey was distributed to nurse practitioners in Georgia by the professional organization's listserv. Multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were performed to assess differences between employment settings, geographic location, and other relevant demographic qualifiers and levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. RESULTS: Hundred nurse practitioners (NPs) (n = 100) responded to the survey. Ninety-one percent were female and ages 25-35 years. Male NPs showed higher rates of compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. CONCLUSIONS: A ProQOL survey demonstrated increased burnout and secondary traumatic stress among frontline practitioners in Georgia due to increased workloads, feelings of inadequacy, fear of being infected by the virus, and prolonged exposure to deaths. IMPLICATIONS: Ensuring effective communication, team collaboration, emotional, adequate staffing, and psychological support can help reduce compassion fatigue among NPs.
Subject(s)
Burnout, Professional , COVID-19 , Compassion Fatigue , Nurse Practitioners , Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Compassion Fatigue/etiology , Quality of Life/psychology , Pandemics , Cross-Sectional Studies , Burnout, Professional/etiology , Burnout, Professional/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Job SatisfactionABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on perceived stress experienced by nurse practitioners/nurses and their desire to remain employed as health care providers. A cross-sectional survey of 40 questions was administered between May and September 2020 to a convenience sample of 433 nurse practitioners and nurses in Missouri and Georgia through a Qualtrics (Provo, UT) link provided via their professional organization listserv. Anxiety-related symptoms and perceived helplessness were correlated with personal protective equipment concerns and management approachability. Problematic stress was associated with willingness to leave their current job or the nursing profession altogether.