Introduction
Nursing is regarded as one of the most challenging and emotionally draining jobs. As is commonly acknowledged, many caregivers suffer from anxiety and sadness as a consequence of their employment. The PICO question for this research is: In mental health nurses (P), what is the effect of the exposure to mentally unstable patients (I) on the higher risk of the development of depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders (O) compared with nurses who do not work with patients who have psychiatric disorders (C)? According to Vasconcelos et al. (2018), “data collection used a sociodemographic questionnaire with 91 intensive care nurses; burnout was presented by 14.29% of the nurses, and 10.98% had symptoms of depression”. This work is written with the aim of studying practical nursing topics, namely the predictive factors of depression in nurses.
Summary of Research Article
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental diseases in humans. Nurses who work in mental health are at significant risk of getting psychiatric illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Because of the multifaceted character of the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders in current conditions of societal development, there is still no agreement on the description of predictive variables. Psycho-educational cognitive behavioral therapy, internet-based preventative treatments, and wedge treatments are the most commonly utilized preventive therapies for depression, and they have been applied in a number of countries (Al Maqbali et al., 2021). A qualitative, cross-sectional research approach was used in this research. The selected population included all mental health nurses working in Greece’s state psychiatric institutions. In order to recruit samples, a stratified random sampling approach was applied to each facility. Tsaras et al. (2018) performed a comprehensive, cross-sectional study in which 110 healthcare practitioners from Greece’s state psychiatric institutions took part.
An intriguing conclusion was that university education nurses and doctors with a master’s degree were more likely than post-secondary physicians to have heightened anxiety and depression. The significant frequency of worry and anxiety confirms earlier findings from research done in diverse sectors and cultures, indicating the universality of the stressors, challenges, and emotional demands that nurses face. In general, such findings are consistent with current international research, and they may be explained by responsibility, which may be a source of stress and is growing in tandem with educational attainment. Furthermore, higher-educated nurses have high expectations for their job and might be disappointed when there is a lack of advancement or growth in clinical practice.
Major Variables
The health care industry is regarded as one of the most stressful and emotionally taxing fields of work, particularly for nurses, who are frequently exposed to a variety of unpleasant events such as pain, death, sadness, and disputes. To highlight the characteristics of nurses, measures of dispersion for continuous variables and percentages and frequencies for categorical attributes are provided (ordinal). The results (ratio) of the under-research relationships were the incidences of depression and anxiety. Almost 50 percent of the participants exhibit active symptoms of psychological distress. In many cases, both figures should be corrected to avoid further health problems that could lead to unpaid leave and poor quality of healthcare services delivered (Tsaras et al., 2018). Aside from age, level of education, and job skills, sociodemographic and vocational characteristics do not appear to impact the prevalence of depressive symptoms.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The study had various negative consequences, including small sample size. However, this study was done on a specific demographic of nurses who work in Greek psychiatric facilities (Tsaras et al., 2018). Furthermore, cross-sectional research provides no quantitative information regarding the variation that such disorders might have over time. Moreover, self-administered psychometric tools cannot substitute for a clinical interview done by a qualified psychiatrist. As aforementioned, there is a paucity of literature examining the incidence of psychological distress among mental health nurses, as well as the related variables. As a result, nursing leaders and nursing employees will be able to identify and recognize characteristics, depressive disorders, and worry, as well as how they are connected.
Practice Guideline
The guideline is called depression in adults: recognition and management. It addresses significant implementation goals for primary care healthcare practitioners in the detection, treatment, and maintenance of anxiety in persons aged 18 and older (NICE, 2022). All treatments for depression should be administered by trained professionals. Psychological and psychosocial therapies should be based on the appropriate treatment handbook, which should govern the intervention’s form and length. Practitioners should think about employing capable of sustaining created from the practical therapeutic guide. People who are depressed and who are supposed to be at high risk of complications, including those who have returned despite psychiatric drugs, are unable or unwilling to continue antidepressant treatment, or have depressive episodes, should be provided with psychosocial interventions.
Fourth Resource
The how-to article called Depression and anxiety in nurses. It is a fact that many problems that affect a person’s mental health, such as severe stress, irregular sleep patterns, and lack of support, are common in the nursing profession (Vaughn, 2021). Nurses often face these challenges to a greater extent than others who do not work in healthcare (Vaughn, 2021). However, as long as mental health stigma persists, many caregivers will continue to ignore mental health care for fear of being seen as weak. Nursing leaders do not provide enough help to their workers and create an environment conducive to self-care rather than hidden difficulties (Vaughn, 2021). Medical institutions do not prioritize mental health in order to improve the overall well-being of their nurses and the effectiveness of the care they serve their clients.
Conclusion
To summarize, returning to the PICO question: In mental health nurses (P), what is the effect of the exposure to mentally unstable patients (I) on the higher risk of the development of depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders (O) compared with nurses who do not work with patients who have psychiatric disorders (C)? The most commonly used preventive interventions for depression include psycho-educational cognitive behavioral therapy, internet-based prophylactic therapy, and wedge treatments, which have been implemented in a number of nations (Al Maqbali et al., 2021). Symptoms of depression or anxiety were predictive indicators of poor overall security results, and accompanying worry or anxiety was associated with a threefold expanded danger among healthcare workers who tested positive for presumed sleep disruption. Poor mental health among healthcare professionals can stymie effectiveness and have a substantial influence on the quality of care they provide to clients. Moreover, better-educated professionals have excellent standards for their jobs and maybe disillusioned if there is little development or improvement in clinical settings (Tsaras et al., 2018). Creating educational courses to improve the skills of nurses and improve mental health would help prevent cases of depression in the future.
References
Al Maqbali, M., Al Sinani, M., Al-Lenjawi, B. (2021). Prevalence of stress, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 141, 110343.
NICE. (2022). Depression in adults: recognition and management. Guidelines. Web.
Tsaras, K., Papathanasiou, I. V., Vus, V., Panagiotopoulou, A., Katsou, M. A., Kelesi, M., Fradelos, E.C. (2018). Predicting factors of depression and anxiety in mental health nurses: A quantitative cross-sectional study. Medical Archives, 72(1), 62-67.
Vaughn, N. (2021). Depression and anxiety in nurses. Relias.
Vasconcelos, E. M. D., Martino, M. M. F. D., & França, S. P. D. S. (2018). Burnout and depressive symptoms in intensive care nurses: relationship analysis. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 71, 135-141.