The effects on mental health of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background & Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has widely spread worldwide, and caused mental health problems for healthcare professionals, especially affecting the frontline nurses of the crisis. There is an immediate requirement to determine the frequency of anxiety, insomnia, and many other negative emotions in the staff to allow efficient measures to be taken. We aimed to analyze and document the existing evidence on the prevalence of mental health issues among nurses during the COVID-19. Methodology: A literature search was conducted through e-databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science up to December 2020. The search procedure based on using key words for "nurses", "mental health", and "COVID-19 pandemic". Results: A total of 30 studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. There were 57555 samples in total in the studies. According to the random effects model, it was found that the overall effect size of the pandemic on the mental health of nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 was statistically significant with a value of 1,964 (G.A; 1,384-2,787; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Serious symptoms of negative emotions such as anxiety and depression have emerged in frontline nurses dealing with COVID-19. Policymakers and managers need to take efficient measures for nurses to preserve their mental health status during COVID-19.