Other Titles
Rapid Presentation Round
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed heavy demands on ICU nurses, who provided patient care while facing emotional exhaustion, staffing shortages, and limited resources(Boluarte et al., 2020; Shen et al., 2020). Evidence shows that working in critical care during pandemics greatly increases psychological distress among healthcare professionals (Azoulay et al., 2020). Given the significant differences in healthcare systems across countries, cross-national research is crucial for addressing the mental health of ICU nurses.
Aim: This study examines the prevalence of mental health symptoms and evaluates organizational supports provided to intensive care unit nurses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic across multiple international healthcare settings.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was conducted using an international survey in 21 languages from July 2022 to April 2025. Given the lack of standardized tools across languages and differences in mental health services among countries, we collaborated with international experts to develop a culturally appropriate self-report instrument assessing mental health symptoms, organizational support, and burnout.Data analyzed using descriptive statistics in R.
Results: The survey included 1,916 ICU nurses from 65 countries. More than half of ICU nurses (55.48%) had contracted COVID-19, and 10.54% were required to work while infected. Personal losses were high: 22.49% lost family members, 37.68% lost friends, and 42.07% lost colleagues to the disease. Mental health challenges were significant; almost half of the participants, 47.96% experienced regular anxiety at work, and 44.15% felt overwhelmed by job demands. Ongoing fatigue affected life outside work for 59.86% of respondents, yet only 26.15% accessed professional mental health support.Organizational support was inconsistent at best. Only 20.56% of respondents felt that their employers provided appropriate mental health resources, while 47.18% received no support. Most nurses (73.49%) got adequate PPE training, but only 27.87% were prepared for the psychological demands of the work. Severe burnout, affecting daily functioning, was reported in 16.18% of ICU nurses.
Conclusions: ICU nurses experienced significant mental health challenges with inadequate institutional support.
Implications for Nursing Policy: These findings highlight the need for healthcare institutions to make mental health support a core part of ICU nursing practice.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Acute Care, Workforce, Policy, Advocacy, Mental Health, Intensive Care Units, Well-Being, COVID-19 Pandemic, Health Policy, Psychology of Nurses
Recommended Citation
Mobarki, Amal; Dutton, Hillary J.; and Squires, Allison, "Mental Health Crisis Among ICU Nurses: A Global Study Across 65 Countries During COVID-19" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 25.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2026/presentations_2026/25
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-04-24
Mental Health Crisis Among ICU Nurses: A Global Study Across 65 Countries During COVID-19
Washington, DC, USA
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed heavy demands on ICU nurses, who provided patient care while facing emotional exhaustion, staffing shortages, and limited resources(Boluarte et al., 2020; Shen et al., 2020). Evidence shows that working in critical care during pandemics greatly increases psychological distress among healthcare professionals (Azoulay et al., 2020). Given the significant differences in healthcare systems across countries, cross-national research is crucial for addressing the mental health of ICU nurses.
Aim: This study examines the prevalence of mental health symptoms and evaluates organizational supports provided to intensive care unit nurses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic across multiple international healthcare settings.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was conducted using an international survey in 21 languages from July 2022 to April 2025. Given the lack of standardized tools across languages and differences in mental health services among countries, we collaborated with international experts to develop a culturally appropriate self-report instrument assessing mental health symptoms, organizational support, and burnout.Data analyzed using descriptive statistics in R.
Results: The survey included 1,916 ICU nurses from 65 countries. More than half of ICU nurses (55.48%) had contracted COVID-19, and 10.54% were required to work while infected. Personal losses were high: 22.49% lost family members, 37.68% lost friends, and 42.07% lost colleagues to the disease. Mental health challenges were significant; almost half of the participants, 47.96% experienced regular anxiety at work, and 44.15% felt overwhelmed by job demands. Ongoing fatigue affected life outside work for 59.86% of respondents, yet only 26.15% accessed professional mental health support.Organizational support was inconsistent at best. Only 20.56% of respondents felt that their employers provided appropriate mental health resources, while 47.18% received no support. Most nurses (73.49%) got adequate PPE training, but only 27.87% were prepared for the psychological demands of the work. Severe burnout, affecting daily functioning, was reported in 16.18% of ICU nurses.
Conclusions: ICU nurses experienced significant mental health challenges with inadequate institutional support.
Implications for Nursing Policy: These findings highlight the need for healthcare institutions to make mental health support a core part of ICU nursing practice.
Description
This global study surveyed 1,916 ICU nurses across 65 countries during COVID-19. Findings revealed widespread anxiety, fatigue, and feelings of being overwhelmed among participants. Despite significant mental health challenges, most nurses did not access mental health services and reported inadequate organizational support and preparation for psychological demands. Results highlight a critical gap in institutional mental health support for ICU nurses .