Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

‘You can't walk through water without getting wet’ UK nurses’ distress and psychological health needs during the Covid-19 pandemic : a longitudinal interview study

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Maben, J., Conolly, A., Abrams, R., Rowland, E., Harris, R., Kelly, D., Kent, B. and Couper, Keith (2022) ‘You can't walk through water without getting wet’ UK nurses’ distress and psychological health needs during the Covid-19 pandemic : a longitudinal interview study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 131 . 104242. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2022.104242

[img]
Preview
PDF
WRAP-‘You-can't-walk-through-water-without-getting-wet’-UK-nurses’-distress-psychological-health-needs-during-Covid-19-pandemic-2022.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (813Kb) | Preview
[img] PDF
ms-070422-wrap--ijns_couper.pdf - Accepted Version
Embargoed item. Restricted access to Repository staff only - Requires a PDF viewer.

Download (2536Kb)
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2022.104242

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Background:
Pre-COVID-19 research highlighted the nursing profession worldwide as being at high risk from symptoms of burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic on 11th March 2020 due to the sustained risk of further global spread of COVID-19. The high healthcare burden associated with COVID-19 has increased nurses’ trauma and workload, thereby exacerbating pressure on an already strained workforce and causing additional psychological distress for staff.

Objectives:
The Impact of COVID-19 on Nurses (ICON) interview study examined the impacts of the pandemic on frontline nursing staff's psychosocial and emotional wellbeing.

Design:
Longitudinal qualitative interview study.

Settings:
Nurses who had completed time 1 and 2 of the ICON survey were sampled to include a range of UK work settings including acute, primary and community care and care homes. Interviewees were purposively sampled for maximum variation to cover a broad range of personal and professional factors, and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, including redeployment.

Methods:
Nurses participated in qualitative in-depth narrative interviews after the first wave of COVID-19 in July 2020 (n=27) and again at the beginning of the second wave in December 2020 (n=25) via video and audio platform software. Rigorous qualitative narrative analysis was undertaken both cross-sectionally (within wave) and longitudinally (cross wave) to explore issues of consistency and change.

Results:
The terms moral distress, compassion fatigue, burnout and PTSD describe the emotional states reported by the majority of interviewees leading many to consider leaving the profession. Causes of this identified included care delivery challenges; insufficient staff and training; PPE challenges and frustrations. Four themes were identified: (1) ‘Deathscapes’ and impoverished care (2) Systemic challenges and self-preservation (3) Emotional exhaustion and (4) (Un)helpful support.

Conclusions:
Nurses have been deeply affected by what they have experienced and are forever altered with the impacts of COVID-19 persisting and deeply felt. There is an urgent need to tackle stigma to create a psychologically safe working environment and for a national COVID-19 nursing workforce recovery strategy to help restore nurse's well-being and demonstrate a valuing of the nursing workforce and therefore support retention.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
R Medicine > RT Nursing
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Clinical Trials Unit
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-, COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- -- Psychological aspects, Nurses and nursing -- Psychological aspects, Nurses -- Job stress, Nurses -- Mental health, Longitudinal method, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Burn out (Psychology), Suicide
Journal or Publication Title: International Journal of Nursing Studies
Publisher: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd.
ISSN: 0020-7489
Official Date: July 2022
Dates:
DateEvent
July 2022Published
3 April 2022Available
3 April 2022Accepted
Volume: 131
Article Number: 104242
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2022.104242
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
UNSPECIFIEDBurdett Trust for Nursinghttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000386
UNSPECIFIEDFlorence Nightingale Foundationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000665
Contributors:
ContributionNameContributor ID
Research GroupThe Impact of Covid On Nurses (ICON) Survey Research Group, UNSPECIFIED

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item
twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us