The influence of emotional burnout and resilience on the psychological distress of nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure and analyse the association of emotionalburnout and resilience with the psychological distress of students who finished their nursingstudies after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health of nursing students wasaffected during the pandemic, and resilience seems to counteract the negative effects. This is across-sectional study. The data (quantitative) were gathered at the beginning of the second term ofthe academic year 2020/2021. The study was carried out in the Spanish university context. Self-reported measures were gathered using three one-dimensional, valid, and reliable scales: thePsychological Distress Scale (K-10), the Emotional Burnout Scale (EBS), and the short version ofthe Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC10). A total of 393 students of different Spanishuniversities participated in this study. A valid linear regression model was obtained, whichallowed verifying that psychological distress is explained, with 37% variance, by emotionalburnout and resilience. The total score in emotional burnout has more relevance than the totalscore in resilience, and the latter has a negative tendency. Facing the factors that generateemotional burnout in students in the academic scope and promoting resilience in them arefundamental aspects that contribute to their psychological well-being. The reflection should beextended to clinical practices. Universities are urged to think about last-year students, theirexperiences, perceptions, and feelings, to determine how their susceptibility to emotional burnoutand psychological distress can be minimized in their future clinical practices. Strategies topromote their resilience should also be studied.