ArticleHeart & lung : the journal of critical care
Critical Care Nurse Burnout, Moral Distress, and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A United States Survey.
Article in Heart & lung : the journal of critical care. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 202 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in healthcare workers before and during COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of mobile health application training based on micro-learning method on the level of resilience and happiness among intensive care nurses: a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2024Trial
- STOPTHEBURN: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Death Cafés for Burnout Prevention in Intensive Care Unit Employees.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2024Trial
- Mobile Mindfulness for Psychological Distress and Burnout among Frontline COVID-19 Nurses: A Pilot Randomized Trial.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2023Trial
- Professional Values, Work Environment and Job Satisfaction Among Critical Care Nurses in Palestine: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Burnout and posttraumatic stress among nurses in German care homes: a cross-sectional survey during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Impact of Quiet Quitting and Nursing Work Environment on Quality of Care and Patient Safety: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Nurses in Greece.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association of compassion fatigue and work context with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among care aides in nursing homes.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Resource allocation decisions faced by health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in a community intensive care unit in Ontario, Canada: a qualitative study.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2026Article
- Bolstering wellbeing and mitigating burnout in critical care: a mixed-methods exploration.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2026Article
- Moral resilience of oncology nurses and its influencing factors: a cross-sectional study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Compassionate Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Discontinuation: A Narrative Review and Practical Process Model for Reliable End-of-Life Care.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Article
- Nursing Workforce Characteristics and Their Impact on Intensive Care Unit Interprofessional Team Collaboration.Military medicine · 2026Article
- Caught Between Care and Collapse: An Interpretive Qualitative Exploration of Burnout and Resilience Among Respiratory Therapists in Saudi Arabia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
- Moral distress of intensive care unit nurses: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Nurses' Practice Environment in Cardiovascular Hospitals: Nurses' Perceptions.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
- Factors Associated With Professional Quality of Life Among Exposed Nursing Staff to the COVID-19 Patients.Nursing research and practice · 2026Article
- Integrating rapid response systems and patient centered goals of care discussions.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to have a tremendous influence on intensive care unit (ICU) nurses' mental health.
objectivesThe purpose of this study was to describe the impact of COVID-19 on nurse moral distress, burnout, and mental health.
methodsBetween October 2020 and January 2021 this descriptive study recruited a national sample of nurses who worked in the ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic through American Association of Critical Care Nurses newsletters and social media.
resultsA total of 488 survey responses were received from critical care nurses working in the U.S. during the COVID pandemic. Over two thirds of respondents experienced a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Nurse respondents reported moderate/high levels of moral distress and burnout. Symptoms of moderate to severe depression and anxiety were reported by 44.6% and 31.1% of respondents, respectively. Forty-seven percent of respondents were at risk for having posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Lack of perceived support from administration and shortage of PPE were associated with higher levels of burnout, moral distress, and PTSD symptoms.
conclusionsRespondents had higher anxiety and depression than the general population and higher risk for having PTSD than recent veterans or patients after traumatic injury. High levels of reported burnout and moral distress increase the risk of nurses leaving ICU practice or the profession. This study offers important insights about the mental health of nurses during a global pandemic that can guide the development of customized interventions for ICU nurses related to this health care crisis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.