Location

Virtual Conference

Start Date

24-6-2022 2:40 PM

End Date

24-6-2022 3:50 PM

Keywords:

covid-19; california; plcmmc

Description

Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Operating Room (OR) nurses were redeployed to patient care units during times of maximal surge capacity in hospitals caring for patients with the novel coronavirus. Hospital bed and staffing needs caused hospitals to cancel elective surgeries, allowing for conservation of bed space and nurses to accommodate the patient influx. Despite the highly specialized nature and skill set of OR nursing, OR nurses were expected to function in traditional patient care roles, where levels of self-assessed competence vary based on experience and training. There is a paucity of literature on the psychological impact of redeployment of OR nurses, however, previous literature indicates negative experiences when nurses felt a mismatch between levels of support and increased clinical demands as well as workplace expectations.

Purpose: Monitor and describe the psychological well-being of OR nurses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods/Approach: The present project is an ongoing national longitudinal, descriptive correlational study. Recruitment was completed via email sent by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses to members within the United States and territories, and by word of mouth. Consented participants completed a questionnaire that included demographics, redeployment experience, and three valid and reliable psychological well-being questionnaires: The Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R), measuring post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7) measuring anxiety, and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory – Short Form (PTGI-SF), measuring the positive impact of a traumatic event. Initial data collection (T1) started in March 2021, while timepoint 2 (T2) began in September 2021, and the final timepoint (T3) commenced in March2022.

Results: A total of 102 nurses from 33 states completed demographics. Participants were 82.4% female, 77.5% Caucasian, and 79.4% hold at least a bachelor's degree. Most participants (n = 74) were redeployed during COVID--19. Attrition from the T1 to T2 response rate was noted: IES-R (n = 48, n = 42), GAD-7 (n = 67, n = 42), and PTGI-SF (n = 67, n = 39). There were no statistical differences between T1 and T2 in any well-being measure when looked at as a group (redeployed and non-redeployed). In OR nurses who were redeployed there was a statistically significant downward change in mean scores of both IES-R (p = 0.001) and GAD-7 (p =0.026) from T1 to T2. Of particular interest was the PTSD scores of redeployed OR nurses, which showed scores consistent with clinical symptoms of PTSD, which decreased between T1 and T2. There was a clinically noteworthy but statistically insignificant increase in PTSD scores between T1 and T2 among non-redeployed OR nurses.

Conclusion: Redeployed nurses showed evidence of trauma, stress, and post traumatic growth at T1, with a decrease in PTSD and anxiety scores over a 6-month period.

Implications for practice: Potentially traumatic situations should be proactively addressed to combat psychological distress in the workplace.

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Jun 24th, 2:40 PM Jun 24th, 3:50 PM

Podium Presentation: OR Nurses Psychological Well-being and Redeployment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Virtual Conference

Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Operating Room (OR) nurses were redeployed to patient care units during times of maximal surge capacity in hospitals caring for patients with the novel coronavirus. Hospital bed and staffing needs caused hospitals to cancel elective surgeries, allowing for conservation of bed space and nurses to accommodate the patient influx. Despite the highly specialized nature and skill set of OR nursing, OR nurses were expected to function in traditional patient care roles, where levels of self-assessed competence vary based on experience and training. There is a paucity of literature on the psychological impact of redeployment of OR nurses, however, previous literature indicates negative experiences when nurses felt a mismatch between levels of support and increased clinical demands as well as workplace expectations.

Purpose: Monitor and describe the psychological well-being of OR nurses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods/Approach: The present project is an ongoing national longitudinal, descriptive correlational study. Recruitment was completed via email sent by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses to members within the United States and territories, and by word of mouth. Consented participants completed a questionnaire that included demographics, redeployment experience, and three valid and reliable psychological well-being questionnaires: The Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R), measuring post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7) measuring anxiety, and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory – Short Form (PTGI-SF), measuring the positive impact of a traumatic event. Initial data collection (T1) started in March 2021, while timepoint 2 (T2) began in September 2021, and the final timepoint (T3) commenced in March2022.

Results: A total of 102 nurses from 33 states completed demographics. Participants were 82.4% female, 77.5% Caucasian, and 79.4% hold at least a bachelor's degree. Most participants (n = 74) were redeployed during COVID--19. Attrition from the T1 to T2 response rate was noted: IES-R (n = 48, n = 42), GAD-7 (n = 67, n = 42), and PTGI-SF (n = 67, n = 39). There were no statistical differences between T1 and T2 in any well-being measure when looked at as a group (redeployed and non-redeployed). In OR nurses who were redeployed there was a statistically significant downward change in mean scores of both IES-R (p = 0.001) and GAD-7 (p =0.026) from T1 to T2. Of particular interest was the PTSD scores of redeployed OR nurses, which showed scores consistent with clinical symptoms of PTSD, which decreased between T1 and T2. There was a clinically noteworthy but statistically insignificant increase in PTSD scores between T1 and T2 among non-redeployed OR nurses.

Conclusion: Redeployed nurses showed evidence of trauma, stress, and post traumatic growth at T1, with a decrease in PTSD and anxiety scores over a 6-month period.

Implications for practice: Potentially traumatic situations should be proactively addressed to combat psychological distress in the workplace.