The effect of dispositional resilience on the relationship between professional quality of life and psychological distress factors of nurses during the pandemic: A three-wave longitudinal study

BackgroundCOVID-19 overwhelmed all healthcare workers, especially nurses, who worked tirelessly in patient care in extremely stressful situations. Italy, with its hospital overcrowding and staff shortages, exacerbated these negative consequences.DesignA three-wave prospective longitudinal-design was adopted to use validated scales to examine the trend of stress, anxiety, depression and resilience on the professional quality of life of nurses who worked during the pandemic. During an 8-month period, a sample of 411 individuals was recruited and surveyed three times.ResultsResilience showed an increasing positive trend from the first to the third wave, increasing its effects on the outcomes and demonstrating its important protective role. The compassion fatigue showed progressively higher scores in the three waves, indicating greater workload perception and greater difficulty in managing the patients' perceived stress. Burnout increased in the first compared to second waves but decreased significantly in the third wave, due to the effect of resilience on burnout that was significantly stronger in the third wave.ConclusionOur findings align with the literature about the role of resilience and emphasize the importance of investing in strategies aimed at developing resilience in healthcare workers and providing prevention and assistance to them in terms of job demands and unsustainable stressors. Summary statementWhat is already known about this topic? Studies have shown that healthcare workers, and in particular frontline workers, are more prone to burnout, psycho-physical disorders (insomnia, fatigue, irritability) and cognitive disorders (difficulty in concentrating) than other professions and healthcare workers in other units. In contrast, potential protective factors were found to be compassion satisfaction, resilience and psychological capital, indicating that high levels of these constructs can keep healthcare workers strong and stable. The persistence of the pandemic and emergency situation exacerbated these negative effects, maintaining high levels of pressure and forcing healthcare workers to face additional challenges.What this paper adds: (research findings/key new information) This study found that the psychological stress of health workers increased as the pandemic increased, especially in those who had to work on the front line. Even under conditions of high stress and risk, the effect of resilience over time results in a noticeable and significant reduction in anxiety, which translates into better management of the situation and an enhanced ability of nurses to cope, considering the challenges faced during the experienceThe implications of this paper: Knowing how the health of our healthcare workers evolves, knowing the factors that influence them psychologically is useful and essential to creating mental health strategies, which should be timely, flexible and holistic to protect our healthcare workers. Implementation of psychological support is recommended for these workers, but above all a series of timely interventions to assist and support them. Evidence to support this derives from the effect of resilience on the professional quality of life of these workers.