Coping Strategies for Nurses’ Distress in Dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the work stressors of nurses, which were already a problem previously, causing great distress. Hence, the need for effective coping strategies has been realized to prevent such distress, especially if a pandemic recurs. Determining how the types of coping strategies used by nurses impact their distress level in COVID-19 Pandemic. This review was conducted using the PRISMA Statement Recommendations Checklist and PRISMA—Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-SCR). The databases used were Willey Library, Science Direct, SCOPUS, and Springer Link for the literature search. Nurse and (“coping type” or “brief cope”) and COVID were the keywords used for search. The search was carried out using the following initial filters: “English and Indonesian,” language, and “free full text” availability. Only original research articles with a sample of nurses and a focus on coping with the COVID-19 pandemic were synthesized. The review contained 21 articles in total. In the Brief-COPE framework, an instrument designed to measure the types of coping strategies, there are several ways of classifying the types of coping strategies: based on outcome, engagement, stressor management goals, and source of support. The top coping strategies were acceptance, active coping, planning, religion, positive reframing, and seeking emotional support. Avoidance coping strategies significantly increase one’s depression and anxiety, while acceptance and positive reframing protect against anxiety and depression. This knowledge forms the basis of planning and designing a stress management program for dealing with extreme work stressors, such as pandemics. Future research should investigate how different types of stressors influence the use of coping strategies and distress in other situations