Influence of depression, stress, and anxiety on work performance among nurses in tuberculosis/HIV and COVID-19 units on Timor Island

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between work performance and self-reported symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety among nurses in tuberculosis (TB)/HIV and COVID-19 units on Timor Island, Indonesia.
METHODS: This research used a comparative, cross-sectional design. The data were collected between October 2020 and January 2021. The total population sampling technique was used. The study group comprised 236 nurses working in TB/HIV isolation rooms and 423 nurses in COVID-19 isolation rooms. The data were collected using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS-42) and a work performance questionnaire. The instruments were administered online. The collected data were analyzed using independent t-testing to see differences in the performance of TB/HIV isolation unit nurses compared with that of COVID-19 isolation unit nurses, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to measure the strength and direction of the relationship between work performance and depression, stress, and anxiety.
RESULTS: The mean DASS-42 scores of nurses in the TB/HIV isolation units were low, indicating minimal effects. The mean score was 4.56 for depression, 4.44 for anxiety, and 5.63 for stress. The scores of those in the COVID-19 isolation units reflected moderate levels of depression, stress, and anxiety: the mean was 17.03 for depression, 11.23 for anxiety and 6.120 for stress. The work performance results indicated that the nurses in the TB/HIV isolation rooms, on average, had sufficient work performance, while those in the COVID-19 isolation rooms demonstrated weaker work performance. There was a significant difference in the work performance between nurses working in the 2 units (p value <0.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The state of nurses’ depression, stress, and anxiety was correlated with work performance in the TB/HIV and COVID-19 isolation units.