Mental Health of Nurses Working at a Government-designated Hospital During a MERS-CoV Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study

HIGHLIGHTS

• During an epidemic of a novel infectious disease, nurses can suffer from mental health problems.

• Stigma and hardiness exert both direct effects on mental health in nurses.

• Stigma and hardiness exert both indirect effects on mental health via stress in nurses.

• The mental health of nurses was affected more by direct effects than by indirect effects.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

During an epidemic of a novel infectious disease, many healthcare workers suffer from mental health problems.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to test the following hypotheses: stigma and hardiness exert both direct effects on mental health and also indirect (mediated) effects on mental health through stress in nurses working at a government-designated hospital during a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) epidemic.

METHODS

A total of 187 participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The direct and indirect effects related to the study hypotheses were computed using a series of ordinary least-squares regressions and 95% bootstrap confidence intervals with 10,000 bootstrap resamples from the data.

DISCUSSIONS

The influences of stigma and hardiness on mental health were partially mediated through stress in nurses working at a hospital during a MERS-CoV epidemic. Their mental health was influenced more by direct effects than by indirect effects.