Mental Health of Nurses in Mexico during COVID-19: Aggression, Rejection, and its Impact on Health

Aims: Our study aims to measure Nurses’ perception of aggression and violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has generated physical and emotional strain in all health workers, such as rejection, maltreatment, stress, and anxiety among health workers. Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study, applied virtually through a Google form, to collect sociodemographic, occupational, and clinical details of workers. We applied the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), the sample size was 560 nurses from universities, hospitals, and nursing colleges across Mexico. Results: The principal source of aggression against nurses were strangers, increasing symptoms of anxiety and insomnia. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated violence towards and discrimination against health professionals. This work investigated the perception of aggression and rejection towards nursing staff during the pandemic. Implications for Nursing Management: Nursing students, technicians and graduates perceived more aggression than specialist nurses or those with a post-graduate qualification. Among our respondents, we found that younger nurses, who lived in the East of the country, worked in the public sector in clinical or hospital settings, and had contact with COVID-19 patients or had been diagnosed with the virus were more susceptive to this type of violence. Objetivo: Medir la percepción de las enfermeras sobre la agresión y violencia durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en México. Antecedentes: La pandemia de COVID-19 ha generado tensión física y emocional en todos los trabajadores de la salud, como rechazo, maltrato, estrés y ansiedad. Métodos: Estudio transversal analítico, aplicado virtualmente a través de un formulario de Google, para recolectar datos sociodemográficos, ocupacionales y clínicos de los trabajadores. Se aplicó el Cuestionario de Salud General de Goldberg (GHQ-28), el tamaño de la muestra fue de 560 enfermeras de universidades, hospitales y colegios de enfermería de México. Resultados: La principal fuente de agresión contra las enfermeras, fueron los extraños, aumentando los síntomas de ansiedad e insomnio. Conclusiones: La pandemia de COVID-19 ha exacerbado la violencia y discriminación hacia los profesionales de la salud. Se investigó la percepción de agresión y rechazo hacia el personal de enfermería durante la pandemia. Los estudiantes, técnicos y egresados ​​de enfermería perciben más agresiones que enfermer