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Evidence for nurse education
Impact of COVID-19 on nursing students’ mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis
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  1. David Barrett1,
  2. Alison Twycross2
  1. 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, UK
  2. 2 The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr David Barrett, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK; D.I.Barrett{at}hull.ac.uk

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2021-103500

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    Background and purpose

    • This is a summary of Mulyadi M et al, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103228.1

    • Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on all aspects of education and healthcare delivery.

    • Student nurses are in a position where they may be impacted by COVID-19 from both an educational perspective and in their role as learners in practice.

    • The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to gather, appraise and synthesise research on student nurses’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on mental health and sleep disturbances.

    Methods

    View this table:

    Results and areas for future research

    • Seventeen studies—all cross-sectional design—were included, encompassing data from nine countries and 13 247 student nurses.

    • Eight studies including 8175 student nurses reported on depression levels; 52% of participants suffered depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    • Three studies (n=817) reported levels of students experiencing fear (41%) and stress (30%).

    • The pooled prevalence of anxiety from ten studies was 32%. Over a quarter (27%) of participants in six studies (n=3359) reported sleep disturbances.

    • Future research should explore risk factors related to these mental health issues and sleep disturbances, and the effectiveness of interventions to reduce prevalence.

    Take home messages

    • During the COVID-19 pandemic, over a half of student nurses reported suffering from depression, nearly one-third reported stress and/or anxiety and over a quarter experienced sleep disturbance.

    • Education and practice placement providers need to ensure comprehensive support is in place to bolster the mental health and well-being of student nurses during and after the pandemic.

    • Further research is required to help education providers develop systems that support students through periods of crisis and uncertainty, including future public health emergencies.

    Ethics statements

    Patient consent for publication

    Reference

    1. ↵
      2. Mulyadi M ,
      3. Tonapa SI ,
      4. Luneto S , et al
      . Prevalence of mental health problems and sleep disturbances in nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nurse Educ Pract 2021;57:103228. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103228

    Footnotes

    • Twitter @barrett1972, @alitwy

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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    © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage