Stress, resilience, and moral distress among health care providers in oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Frontiers in public health 2023-12, Vol.11, p.1288483-1288483
• Main Authors: Alrjoub, Waleed, Alarjeh, Ghadeer, Ammar, Khawlah, Shamieh, Abedalrahman, Harding, Richard, Booth, Christopher, Sullivan, Richard, Al-Ruzzieh, Majeda, Mansour, Asem, Shamieh, Omar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Child; Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RSIC); coronavirus pandemic; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; oncology healthcare professionals; Pandemics; Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); Personnel, Hospital; Public Health; resilience; Resilience, Psychological; stress levels
• ISSN: 2296-2565; 2296-2565
• DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1288483

The coronavirus pandemic has potential implications for stress levels and resilience among oncology healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study aims to assess perceived stress, resilience, and moral distress levels among oncology HCPs in Jordan during the pandemic and identify associated risk factors. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among oncology HCPs in Jordan using three validated tools: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RSIC), and Moral Distress Thermometer (MDT). Seven items were used to assess sources of stress. A total of 965 participants enrolled with a 74% response rate. The participants' ages ranged from 20 to 74 (mean = 32.74, SD = 5.197), with 79.1% males, 45.1% were physicians, 32.6% were public hospital workers, 57.1% were married, and 56.6% had children below 18 years. Findings indicated moderate perceived stress (Mean = 15.87, SD = 5.861), low resilience (Mean = 29.18, SD = 5.197), and high moral distress (Mean = 4.72, SD = 2.564). Females, unmarried individuals, and younger age groups exhibited higher PSS ( = 0.009,