Finding the positives from the COVID-19 pandemic: factors associated with posttraumatic growth among nurses in Hong Kong.

BACKGROUND

Due to active involvement with patients for COVID-19 treatments, nurses are susceptible to adverse psychological outcomes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the distress, studies have suggested that nurses are able to experience positive changes (i.e. posttraumatic growth; PTG) during the pandemic. Research on other populations has also indicated that COVID-19-specific worries and work-related coping resources are associated with people's positive changes during the pandemic.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined how socio-demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related worries, and work-related variables (satisfaction with work and workplace pandemic guidelines) were associated with PTG among nurses in Hong Kong.

METHODS

Nurses ( = 1510) working in hospitals and community settings were recruited through nursing associations in Hong Kong between 8 August 2020 and 22 September 2020. They were invited to complete a cross-sectional survey measuring their sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19 worries, and satisfaction with work and workplace pandemic-control measures.

RESULTS

Results from hierarchical regressions found that those working non-full-time (= -0.06), affiliating with a religion (= 0.24), having higher COVID-19-related worries and psychological distress ( ranging from 0.12-0.15), and having higher work satisfaction (= 0.14) were associated with higher PTG (< .05). Moreover, a significant interaction between psychological distress and satisfaction with workplace pandemic control guidelines emerged in explaining PTG (= 0.08, < .05), such that guideline satisfaction was only associated with higher PTG among those with higher distress (= 0.09, = .03), but not those with lower distress (= -0.05, > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses in Hong Kong did report positive changes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies could focus on the contributing factors of PTG to design for effective strategies to enhance resources for nurses to promote positive psychosocial outcomes.