Mokaya Peter Onchuru, Ntinyari Nancy, Limungi Godfrey, Kasmai Evans Kiptulon, Gabriella Hideg-Fehér
Doctoral School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pecs, Hungary.
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pecs, Hungary.
BMC Nurs. 2025 May 2;24(1):487. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03117-6.
The Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and later caused a severe health crisis, causing massive disruptions to most healthcare systems worldwide. During this pandemic period, the structure of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) activities changed fast. It was observed that the mental health of ICU nurses reached levels of extreme clinical and psychological concern. This paper aims to shed light on how COVID-19 affected ICU nurses' mental health.
A literature review of articles published on this topic from January 2020 to December 2024. English-language, peer-reviewed, mixed-methods, qualitative, and quantitative research on the mental health outcomes of ICU nurses were included while studies without primary data, non-ICU nurses, and non-peer-reviewed publications were excluded. To identify relevant literature, we searched five databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Embase. Additionally, grey literature sources, including Google Scholar and Research Gate, were also searched. Narrative synthesis was used to evaluate both quantitative and qualitative data.
A total of 23 articles were reviewed. The most prevalent mental health issues were depression, anxiety, fear, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The effects of burnout, illness, exhaustion, physical strain, sleep disturbances, and ongoing job stress were equally detrimental to the health of ICU nurses. The nurses' health declined as a result of the new procedures and working environment, the enormous workload, the continued exhaustion, the concerns for their families and themselves being infected by COVID-19, the social reaction, and seeing the death toll rise.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on nurses' mental health well-being such as stress, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, anxiety, and fear. Sustainable support systems, networks and plans ought to be made available. Due to unique working conditions of ICU nurses and in readiness for similar pandemics in future, legislators should focus on the mental health of ICU nurses because they play a critical role in managing public health crises as frontline health solders.
冠状病毒大流行（COVID-19）于2019年12月在中国武汉首次被发现，随后引发了严重的健康危机，给全球大多数医疗系统带来了巨大破坏。在这一疫情期间，重症监护病房（ICU）的活动结构迅速改变。据观察，ICU护士的心理健康达到了极度临床和心理层面令人担忧的程度。本文旨在阐明COVID-19如何影响ICU护士的心理健康。
对2020年1月至2024年12月发表的关于该主题的文章进行文献综述。纳入了关于ICU护士心理健康结果的英文、同行评审、混合方法、定性和定量研究，同时排除了没有原始数据的研究、非ICU护士的研究以及非同行评审的出版物。为了识别相关文献，我们检索了五个数据库，包括PubMed、MEDLINE、CINAHL、科学网和Embase。此外，还检索了灰色文献来源，包括谷歌学术和Research Gate。采用叙事综合法对定量和定性数据进行评估。
共审查了23篇文章。最普遍的心理健康问题是抑郁、焦虑、恐惧和创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。职业倦怠、疾病、疲惫、身体劳损、睡眠障碍和持续的工作压力对ICU护士的健康同样有害。由于新的程序和工作环境、巨大的工作量、持续的疲惫、对家人和自己感染COVID-19的担忧、社会反应以及目睹死亡人数上升，护士的健康状况下降。
COVID-19大流行对护士的心理健康福祉产生了负面影响，如压力、抑郁、创伤后应激障碍、失眠、焦虑和恐惧。应该提供可持续的支持系统、网络和计划。由于ICU护士独特的工作条件以及为未来类似大流行做好准备，立法者应关注ICU护士的心理健康，因为他们作为一线医疗战士在管理公共卫生危机中发挥着关键作用。
