Citation

Wells SK. Crit. Care Nurse 2024; 44(3): 6-8.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Association of Critical Care Nurses)

DOI

10.4037/ccn2024726

PMID

38821524

Abstract

Working as a nurse in the emergency department, I had shifts that could be long and hard. Often, however, the time at home was harder. There were times when I could not sleep, having anxiety over what I had done right or wrong while on shift, and sometimes I fell into deep depressions. I loved my job, but it was frequently not good for me. I thought I was alone with these feelings, but the data show otherwise.

Critical care nurses have been found to have higher rates of depression and anxiety than the general public.1 In a study evaluating the mental health of nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic, investigators found that one-third of nurses surveyed displayed psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression.2 This finding was consistent with other study results that showed that health care staff working during the pandemic had significant prevalences of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.3 Davidson et al4 found that nurses were 18% more likely to die by suicide compared with the general population. Female nurses were found to have twice the risk of dying by suicide compared with the general population...

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Suicide Prevention; *Mental Health; *Suicide/psychology/statistics & numerical data; *Workplace/psychology; Critical Care Nursing/standards; Nursing Staff, Hospital/psychology; Working Conditions