Prevalence of Stress, Anxiety and Depression among Nursing Staff in Intensive Care Units of Ali Ebn-e Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan in 2017

Due to the nature of the job, the health of nursing staff is always at risk. Nurses who do not have a good mental and physical health will not be able to take good care of patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression in the nursing staff in intensive care units of Ali Ebn-e Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan in 2017. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 using a census method on all the nurses (87 nurse) working in the intensive care units (NICU, ICU, CCU) of Ali Ebn-e Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire (14 items) and the standard DASS-21 questionnaire (21 items) and analyzed using a chi-square test. Regarding the mean and standard deviation of depression scores (10.80 ± 9.60), stress (12.14 ± 8.17) and anxiety (8.90 ± 8.02), the severity of these disorders in nurses was mild, normal and mild, respectively. The severe type of these disorders was observed in 13.8% (12 people), 9.2% (8 people) and 18.4% (16 people) of the nurses, respectively. The rate of depression in ICU nurses was higher than depression in NICU and CCU nurses. A significant statistical difference was found (p = 0.022). Regarding the findings of this study, given the importance of nursing profession and the effect of the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression of nurses on job performance and quality of service to patients, it is necessary for the nursing managers to increase the mental health of this community, especially nurses working in the ICU.