Effectiveness of an Intervention Strategy on the Mental Health of Hospital Nurses in the Context of COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic represented a health crisis that affected the mental health of nurses due to their fear of infecting family members, losing jobs, maintaining frequent contact with infected persons, and the inexistence of coping strategies.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention strategy on the mental health of hospital nurses in the context of COVID-19.

Methods: A quantitative research, with quasiexperimental design, pretest, posttest and control group, was conducted at Hospital Efrén Jurado López, Guayaquil, Ecuador, in the year 2023. The population consisted of 30 emergency nurses (15 in the study group and 15 in the control group). Mental health was evaluated with a questionnaire designed and validated by researchers (Cronbach's alpha = 0.7). The intervention strategy to improve mental health in the context of COVID-19 was applied, based on Callista Roy's model, and the Student's t statistical test was used, with p = 0.05.

Results: The female sex predominated (90 %), 40 % were between 31 and 40 years of age, and 33.33 % worked from 1 to 5 years. 47 % assimilated the impact during the pandemic, and 40 % had depression or stress. In the initial assessment, 80 % of the nurses in both groups had a fair level of mental health after the intervention. 100 % of the nurses in the study group had good mental health, with significant difference (sig. 00).

Conclusions: The intervention strategy based on Callista Roy's theory was effective, as well as significant in mental health in the physiological modes, of interdependence, self-concept and the role function of nurses; therefore, it is advisable to continue with the application of periodic strategies to the nursing personnel until they can achieve mental well-being in the face of the crisis experienced by being in the front line during the COVID-19 context.