Mental Health of Nurses Working at a Government-designated Hospital During a MERS-CoV Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study

During an epidemic of a novel infectious disease, many healthcare workers suffer from mental health problems. The aims of this study were to test the following hypotheses: stigma and hardiness exert both direct effects on mental health and also indirect (mediated) effects on mental health through stress in nurses working at a government-designated hospital during a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) epidemic. A total of 187 participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method. The direct and indirect effects related to the study hypotheses were computed using a series of ordinary least-squares regressions and 95% bootstrap confidence intervals with 10,000 bootstrap resamples from the data. The influences of stigma and hardiness on mental health were partially mediated through stress in nurses working at a hospital during a MERS-CoV epidemic. Their mental health was influenced more by direct effects than by indirect effects. •During an epidemic of a novel infectious disease, nurses can suffer from mental health problems.•Stigma and hardiness exert both direct effects on mental health in nurses.•Stigma and hardiness exert both indirect effects on mental health via stress in nurses.•The mental health of nurses was affected more by direct effects than by indirect effects.