Objectives: To describe the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms screened by the DASS-21 and to explore associated factors among clinical nurses at Hai Duong Lung Hospital in 2025.
Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among 83 nurses providing direct patient care from June to December 2025. The Vietnamese DASS-21 was used to screen self-reported symptoms during the preceding week. Univariate associations were examined using Fisher’s exact or Fisher-Freeman-Halton tests. A crude odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated for the association between daily working hours and anxiety symptoms.
Results: The proportions with DASS-21 scores at or above the mild threshold were 50.6% for depression, 65.1% for anxiety, and 45.8% for stress. Anxiety symptoms were reported by 71.6% of nurses working more than 8 hours/day versus 37.5% of those working 8 hours/day or less (crude OR = 4.21; 95% CI: 1.34–13.23; p = 0.018). Gender, age, and perceived workload were not statistically associated with the three outcomes in univariate analyses.
Conclusions: Self-reported depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms screened by the DASS-21 were common in the surveyed nurses. The observed association between working more than 8 hours/day and anxiety symptoms was exploratory and requires confirmation in larger studies with multivariable adjustment.