Objective To investigate the psychological stress level and its influencing factors among clinical nurses while they were facing the epidemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19)in emergency state of public health.

Methods The Psychosocial Stress Survey for Groups (PSSG) and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) were applied to investigate 527 clinical nurses in three top-level hospitals during epidemic of COVID-19 in February 2020. The related factors influencing the psychological stress level of these clinical nurses were explored.

Results The psychological stress score(TS) of these clinical nurses was(33.69±20.46), and the score of positive coping was the highest, followed by negative emotion, negative coping, positive emotion and life events. The score of positive coping style of clinical nurses was (1.99±0.80), higher than the national norm in China, while the score of negative coping style was (1.28±0.56) and lower than the national norm(P < 0.05). The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the nurses, aged with 40 to 59 years old (vs. 18 to 39 years old), with employment time less than 10 years (vs. more than 10 years), working in the hospitals with isolation wards (vs. without isolation wards), being female (vs. male), had higher level of psychosocial stress(β=0.052-0.353, P < 0.05 or 0.01). The clinical nurses without religious beliefs showed lower level of psychosocial stress(β=-0.170, P < 0.01). The nurses who adopt more positive coping style showed lower level of psychosocial stress(β=-5.433, P < 0.01). The nurses who adopt more negative coping style showed higher level of psychosocial stress(β=5.623, P < 0.01).

Conclusions Clinical nurses showed high level of psychosocial stress. However, they have adopt positive coping style to relieve psychological stress when facing the epidemic situation of novel coronavirus pneumonia in emergency state of public health. The level of psychosocial stress are affected by several factors. It is necessary to pay close attention to the psychological stress of clinical nurses, especially the first-line nurses. Appropriate measures should be applied for psychological counseling to ease the psychological stress.