Objective To investigate the prevalence of anxiety and insomnia among nursing staff in obstetrics and gynecology hospitals in Shanghai and explore effective measures to protect their mental health.

Methods A cluster sampling method was used to recruit nursing staff from three top tertiary obstetrics and gynecology hospitals in Shanghai. Data were collected via a questionnaire survey including a demographic information form, the 7-Item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the 10-Item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Descriptive and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0 software. The mediation analysis model was constructed using JASP 0.14.1 software, and the mediating role of psychological resilience between anxiety and insomnia among nursing staff in obstetrics and gynecology hospitals was examined using the bias-corrected bootstrap method.

Results A total of 807 questionnaires were distributed, and 771 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid response rate of 95.54%. Of the participants, 544 (70.56%) reported anxiety symptoms, and 545 (70.69%) reported insomnia symptoms. Nursing staff with a bachelor's degree or above had significantly higher anxiety scores than the other staff (P < 0.05). A positive correlation was found between anxiety and insomnia (r = 0.561, P < 0.001). Anxiety was negatively correlated with psychological resilience (r = -0.341, P < 0.001), and insomnia was negatively correlated with psychological resilience (r = -0.371, P < 0.001). Psychological resilience mediated the relationship between anxiety and insomnia, with an effect value of 0.083, accounting for 12.4% of the total effect.

Conclusions The prevalence of anxiety and insomnia symptoms was considerably high among nursing staff in obstetrics and gynecology hospitals in Shanghai. Therefore, it is essential to implement various strategies to reduce nurses' anxiety levels, enhance their psychological resilience, and improve their sleep quality.