Screening for Psychological distress and their Determinants among Clinical nurses in Tertiary Care Teaching...

Nurses are continually subjected to physical and mental stress because of their employment. Estimating the prevalence of and its association with psychological distress among nurses is critical for developing health promotion initiatives. We conducted this study to investigate the incidence of psychological distress and related characteristics among nurses working in a teaching institute in Jharkhand.

We conducted cross-sectional research involving 452 clinical nurses between December 2024 and February 2025. We examined psychological distress using a self-administered general health questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Participants with a GHQ-12 score > three were classified as having psychological distress. The chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the components related to psychological distress.

More than one-fourth of nurses, 25.2% (95% CI: 21.3 - 29.5), had psychological distress. Psychological distress was significantly higher among age group of 26-30 years ( aPR=3.1, 95% Cl: 1.3 - 7.3) those who were not doing any physical activity (aPR=2.2, 95% Cl: 1.3 -3.6), those with poor sleep quality (aPR=2.0, 95% Cl: 1.0 -3.), and those having online screen time >3 hours (aPR=3.1, 95% Cl: 1.3 - 7.3).

We report a high prevalence of psychological distress among nurses, especially among the age group of 26-30 years, those having poor sleep quality, and those not doing physical activity and having online screen time of more than 3 hours. We highlight that reducing workplace stress and improving sleep hygiene can be vital in improving mental health status.