Effects of an Immersive Virtual Reality Intervention Combined With Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction

Recently, studies have revealed that individuals who have survived a COVID-19 infection may experience a range of persistent symptoms (Comelli et al., 2022; Nalbandian et al., 2021), indicating that the pandemic is far from over and its aftermath is difficult to eliminate completely. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for nurses around the world. Not only are they at the forefront of preventing and controlling the spread of the virus, but they are also the primary caregivers for patients experiencing the after-effects of the pandemic. Meanwhile, they also need to care for the patients with other illness. Some study evidence indicated that there is a shortage of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and nursing staff are experiencing a high level of negative emotions (Jiang et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2022).

The ongoing pandemic has had a huge impact on the mental health and work of nurses (Chen et al., 2021). Between 40% and 66.7% of surveyed health care workers reported mental health problems during the pandemic, according to a report by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, 2021). The stress caused by COVID-19 has contributed to workforce attrition, with many nurses opting to leave the profession (Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, 2021; World Health Organization, 2022). It has taken a heavy toll on the healthcare system. Maintaining the mental health of nurses is crucial. This is not only conducive to pandemic prevention and control, but also plays a significant role in the normal medical order.

Registered nurses (RNs) working in target departments, working in target departments, including. The target departments mainly included internal medicine, surgical, emergency department, were included in this study. These nurses had direct contact with COVID-19 patients, making them more susceptible to experiencing negative mental health effects due to increased work pressure. Predefined exclusion criteria included serious carsickness reaction, psychological crisis with a definite diagnosis, and not being engaged in nursing work related to COVID-19. Nurse managers in different departments recommended participants for the study, and interested nurses were contacted to provide basic information and complete evaluation content. Recruitment took place in September 2022. We recorded the enrolled nurses, related basic information and outcome measures.