Psychological distress is a widespread phenomenon that is commonly experienced by healthcare workers (van Mol et al., 2015). Nurses face a high risk of psychological distress because their job requirements include facing the suffering and death of their patients, meeting high job demands, shouldering steadily increasing workloads, and adapting to changing working environments, all while receiving limited professional support (Singh et al., 2020). Moreover, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has severely strained healthcare system personnel and resources. Thus, frontline nurses have been reporting even higher levels of psychological distress during this crisis, expressed through symptoms such as sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, burnout, and long-term feelings of fear (Al Maqbali, 2021; Miranda et al., 2021; Sirois & Owens, 2021).

In this issue of The Journal of Nursing Research, the articles “Exploring the Experience of Nurses in Providing Care to Patients With COVID-19: A Qualitative Study” and “Sleep and Professional Burnout in Nurses, Nursing Technicians, and Nursing Assistants During the COVID-19 Pandemic” provide a deeper understanding to readers of the lived experiences and psychological distress symptoms of frontline nurses providing care to patients with COVID-19. In addition, the cross-sectional study “Working Conditions and the Components of Burnout Among Nursing Staff in a Public Hospital in Mexico City” shows that increased workloads and performing both potentially hazardous work and tedious tasks impact the psychological health of nurses and, subsequently, the quality of healthcare they provide to their patients.

Providing psychological interventions and support to nurses should be an issue of central concern and be regularly provided to maintain the mental wellbeing of nurses.

Al Maqbali M. (2021). Sleep disturbance among frontline nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 19(4), 467–473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-021-00337-6 Miranda F. B. G., Yamamura M., Pereira S. S., Pereira C. d. S., Protti-Zanatta S. T., Costa M. K., Zerbetto S. R. (2021). Psychological distress among nursing professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic: Scoping review. Escola Anna Nery, 25, Article e20200363. https://doi.org/10.1590/2177-9465-EAN-2020-0363 Singh C., Cross W., Munro I., Jackson D. (2020). Occupational stress facing nurse academics—A mixed-methods systematic review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29(5-6), 720–735. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15150 Sirois F. M., Owens J. (2021). Factors associated with psychological distress in health-care workers during an infectious disease outbreak: A rapid systematic review of the evidence. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, Article 589545. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.589545 van Mol M. M. C., Kompanje E. J. O., Benoit D. D., Bakker J., Nijkamp M. D., Seedat S. (2015). The prevalence of compassion fatigue and burnout among healthcare professionals in intensive care units: A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 10(8), Article e0136955. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136955