Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Frontline Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Relationship with Occupational Burnout

This study aimed to determine the level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among nurses and its relationship with occupational burnout.

This online cross-sectional survey was conducted from late November to early January 2020 in six hospitals in Iran. 309 frontline nurses in COVID-19 wards were selected via stratified random sampling and asked to complete a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale-revised version (IES-R), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) in an anonymous online survey. Data management and analysis were performed in SPSS 25.0 using descriptive and inferential statistics, including Pearson’s correlation coefficient, independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and linear regression.

The majority of the participants were women (81.6%) with a mean ± SD age of 31.56 ± 6.42 years. The mean ± SD of the total PTSD score was 39.2 ± 16.44 years, indicating severe PTSD among nurses. The mean ± SD of the total occupational burnout score was 82.77 ± 19.38, expressing moderate burnout. The findings also demonstrated a significant moderate correlation between PTSD and occupational burnout (r = 0.363, P < 0.001). Univariate analysis revealed a significant relationship of occupational burnout with PTSD, work experience, number of night shifts per month, and employment status (P < 0.05). However, in multivariate analysis, only PTSD had a positive and significant relationship with occupational burnout (P < 0.001; R2 = 160; β = 0.339) and was a predicting factor for it.

We found that both PTSD and burnout are common among nurses. Given the role of PTSD especially as a predictor of burnout and the significant impact of these disorders on occupational and non-occupational activities, immediate and appropriate measures are necessary to monitor and reduce their effects on the nurses who are at the forefront of fighting the pandemic.