The impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of nurses in primary healthcare facilities in Ekurhuleni South, Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

South Africa's primary health care relies on nurses, the largest healthcare profession. Thus, their mental health must be maintained. Due to the rising number of infectious illnesses and workload, COVID-19 has overburdened the public health system. Due to these demands, nurses worked long hours and burnt out. Recognising nurses' role in providing excellent PHC services to communities and protecting their mental health is crucial. It examined the mental health effects of COVID-19 on nurses in Ekurhuleni South sub-district primary healthcare institutions and identified mental health issues following exposure. A self-administered questionnaire was used to perform a quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive survey of 280 primary healthcare nurses in the South sub-district of Ekurhuleni. Every eligible nurse who was available for data collection was picked using sequential sampling. The data collection tool included socio-demographic data, health and COVID-19 profiles of nurses and their families, mental health profiles and the impact of COVID-19 on participants, and conventional depressive, anxiety, and insomnia screening measures. Analysing data with descriptive statistics and testing for associations with the Chi-squared test. Most of the 280 nurse participants—87.5%—were female. From 28 to 63, participants participated. 40.4 percent of participants were 38–47 years old, while 13.9% were 58 and older. They had 54.6% diplomas, 23.2% degrees, 18.2% certificates, and 3.9% postgraduate degrees. Eighty-five percent of nurses were professional, with a median of 16 years. Nursing staff were 77.1% COVID-19-positive and 79.29% quarantined. 67% of nurses' family members had COVID-19, and 53.9% had lost someone close to them. Pre-pandemic, 87.1% of nurses had no psychiatric history. A high prevalence of clinical depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness was found in nurses, especially professional nurses and those aged 38–47. Study found 72.86% of nurses had serious depression and 17.5% mild depression. Nurses had 63.2% severe anxiety, 28.6% moderate anxiety, and 8.2% mild anxiety. This distribution demonstrates that 91.8% of nurses had moderate to severe anxiety, and 71.4% had clinical sleeplessness, where 36.8% were severe, 34.6% moderate, and 27.1% subthreshold. Most nurses had clinical depression, anxiety, and sleeplessness risk. Nurses reported depression, anxiety, and insomnia after COVID-19 exposure. Knowing these patterns of mental health issues among nurses is essential for designing comprehensive mental health support measures to address the immediate and long-term consequences of COVID-19 on their mental health.