Impact of COVID-19 on nurses’ mental health in Thohoyandou area, Limpopo province

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has far-reaching social and economic consequences for everyone. Every country in the world was affected by the pandemic in one way or the other. To mitigate the effects, companies around the world implemented working from home strategies. However, not all jobs can be done from home. This means that healthcare workers were exempt from the working from home initiative. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the nurses’ mental health in the Thohoyandou area. The study was qualitative in nature and used exploratory research design. A sample of 15 participants were selected purposefully at Tshilidzini Hospital.  An interview guide was used for data collection and thematic content analysis was employed for data analysis. The findings revealed that the impact of COVID-19 on nurses’ mental health was anxiety and fear, depression and loneliness. The challenges nurses experienced include shortages of staff, workloads, shortage of personal protective equipment and lack of compensation. Moreover, this study revealed that nurses supported each other and used faith to cope with the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health. This study has made imperative recommendations such as counselling or debriefing as coping strategies for nurses and adequate supply of resources for healthcare workers. The study further motivates continual research to explore the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers’ mental health.

Keywords: {'name': 'Covid-19, Front liners, Healthcare Workers, Mental health, Nurses'}

Authors & affiliations

Maphulusi Makananisa
Affiliation not supplied

Valeria Baloyi
Affiliation not supplied

Mpho Madzhie
Affiliation not supplied

Maphuti Chueng
Affiliation not supplied

Deposited references

Supplied references, not a list of publications citing this article.

DOI: 10.21203/rs.2.24474/v1

DOI: 10.1159/000509361

DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S370456

DOI: 10.46743/2160-3715/2017.3272

DOI: 10.1111/jonm.13395

Bavel, J. J. V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., Crockett, M. J., Crum, A. J., Douglas, K. M., Druckman, J. N., Drury, J., Dube, O., Ellemers, N., Finkel, E. J., Fowler, J. H., Gelfand, M., Han, S., Haslam, S. A., Jetten, J., … Willer, R. (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(5), 460–471. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z

DOI: 10.1055/a-1159-5551

DOI: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000003295

DOI: 10.12659/MSM.924171

DOI: 10.1177/0030222820960283

DOI: 10.1017/S1478951519000531

DOI: 10.1111/jpm.12639

DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_13_17

DOI: 10.4102/sajip.v37i2.974

DOI: 10.1037//0021-9010.86.3.499

Department of Health Limpopo Province. (2019). 07.

DOI: 10.1007/s10943-021-01385-5

DOI: 10.1186/s13063-021-05465-5

DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2022.01.023

Fatima, H., Oyetunji, T., Mishra, S., et al. (2022). Religious coping in the time of COVID-19 pandemic in India and Nigeria: Findings of a cross-national community survey. International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

DOI: 10.3201/eid1007.030703

DOI: 10.1016/j.cegh.2021.100759

ICN. (2021). Nursing definition. International Council of Nurses. https://www.icn.ch/nursing-policy/nursing-definitions

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04412.x

DOI: 10.1186/s12992-020-00634-8

DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m1367

Kaushik, M. (2020). The impact of pandemic COVID-19 in the workplace. European Journal of Business and Management, 12(15), 8–18. https://doi.org/10.7176/ejbm/12-15-02

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.118701

DOI: 10.1007/s10943-020-01035-2

DOI: 10.1111/jonm.13121

DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer.

DOI: 10.1111/jftr.12252

DOI: 10.1017/S0033291720001555

DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.01.015

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202006.0130.v2

Malelelo-Ndou, H., Ramathuba, D. U., Netshisaulu, K. G., Science, N., & Ramathuba, D. (2016). Challenges experienced by healthcare professionals working in resource-poor intensive care settings in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Curatonis, 1–8.

Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. (2016). Designing qualitative research (6th ed.). Sage Publications.

Mbunge, E. (2020b). Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company’s public news and information. January.

DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01269

DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10010076

DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S338104

DOI: 10.1111/nhs.12820

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3594632

DOI: 10.37464/2020.374.317

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2014). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice (7th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Porcelli, P. (2020). Fear, anxiety, and health-related consequences after the COVID-19 epidemic. Clinical Neuropsychiatry.

DOI: 10.25159/2413-3086/8574

DOI: 10.7196/SAMJ.2020.v110i10.15022

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138532

Schimmenti, A., Billieux, J., & Starcevic, V. (2020). The four horsemen of fear: An integrated model of understanding fear experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19041947

DOI: 10.4102/hsag.v26i0.1652

DOI: 10.1159/000492859

Smulian, J. C., & Rasmussen, S. A. (2020). Since January 2020, Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Annals of Oncology, January, 19–21.

Statistics South Africa. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa – Demography volume. Stats SA L.

DOI: 10.1177/0844562120931623

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255986

Stockham, D. (2021). Ideas for increasing participation in employee relief funds. Emergency Assistance Foundation. https://emergencyassistancefdn.org/ideas-increasing-employee-participation/#

DOI: 10.1108/11766091111137564

DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2020.03.018

DOI: 10.1002/ams2.645

DOI: 10.1037/t80907-000

Thobaity, A., & Alshammari, F. (2020). Nurses on the frontline against the COVID-19 pandemic: An integrative review. Dubai Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1159/000509361

DOI: 10.1111/inr.12598

WHO African Region. (2020). External Situation Report 5. COVID-19 Situation Update, 9. https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus-covid-1

WHO. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report. July 6, 2020. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200706-covid-19-sitrep-168.pdf?sfvrsn=7fed5c0b_2

DOI: 10.1177/0253717620933992

World Health Organization. (2020b). Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak, January, 1–6.

DOI: 10.12659/MSM.923549