Correlations between uncertainty in illness and anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: To investigate the uncertainty in illness, anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis and confirm the correlations between these variables. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 396 patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis in four tertiary hospitals in China. METHODS: Uncertainty in illness was measured by Mishel's uncertainty in illness scale. The scores of self-rating anxiety scale, self-rating depression scale and medical outcomes study short form 36 were collected and compared with available norms. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to investigate the correlation between uncertainties in illness with these vital variables. RESULTS: The mean score of uncertainty in illness was 78.16 out of 160. Compared with the norm, patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis had a statistically significantly lower score of depression and higher scores of most domains of quality of life. Uncertainty in illness is corrected with anxiety, depression positively and with quality of life negatively.

Professional Identity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Nurses in China.

BACKGROUND: Emergency and intensive care unit nurses are the main workforce fighting against COVID-19. Their professional identity may affect whether they can actively participate and be competent in care tasks during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To examine the level of and changes in professional identity of Chinese emergency and intensive care unit nurses as the COVID-19 pandemic builds. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey composed of the Professional Identity Scale for Nurses plus 2 open-ended questions was administered to Chinese emergency and intensive care unit nurses through an online questionnaire. RESULTS: Emergency and intensive care unit nurses had a medium level of professional identity. Participants' total and item mean scores in 5 professional identity dimensions were higher than the professional identity norm established by Liu (P < .001). The greatest mean item score difference was in the dimension of professional identity evaluation (3.57 vs 2.88, P < .001). When asked about their feelings witnessing the COVID-19 situation and their feelings about participating in frontline work, 68.9% and 83.9%, respectively, reported positive changes in their professional identity. CONCLUSIONS: The professional identity of emergency and intensive care unit nurses greatly improved during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding may be attributed to more public attention and recognition of nurses' value, nurses' professional fulfillment, and nurses' feelings of being supported, motivated, respected, and valued.

Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic promotes the sense of professional identity among nurses.

BACKGROUND: Under the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses are the mainstay in the fight against the pandemic. PURPOSE: To evaluate potential impact of the pandemic on nurses' professional identity. METHOD: Self-report questionnaires were distributed online. Data collected were compared with available norms. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to calculate the OR of frontline vs. nonfrontline nurses. FINDINGS: The mean of the total score of the scale was 121.12 out of 150. Both the total score and scores on the five dimensions were significantly higher than norms. Frontline nurses had a significantly higher professional identity than non-frontline nurses (total score: odds ratio [OR], 1.19; professional identity evaluation: OR, 1.27; professional social support: OR, 1.18; professional social proficiency: OR, 1.33; and dealing with professional frustration: OR, 1.19). The most frequently mentioned tags were Hope, Frontline, Protection, Outbreak, Work, Situation. DISCUSSION: COVID-19 outbreak was associated with an enhancement in the professional identity of nurses.