The major focus of the study was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers' mental health. Nurses are the workers who were exposed to pandemic-related stress, being the most affected. The present cross-sectional study was focused on finding out the differences of the level of work-related stress and quality of life in nurses of the three Central European states, specifically the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and Poland. A structured anonymous online questionnaire was created, and then the link was distributed to the target population through executives. Data analysis was performed by using the R programme-version 4.1.3. The study found that nurses from the Czech Republic achieved lower stress levels and had a higher quality of life than nurses from Poland and Slovakia.

Division of Public Health Department of Population Health Faculty of Health Sciences Wroclaw Medical University 51 618 Wroclaw Poland

Faculty of Health Slovak Medical University in Bratislava 03401 Banská Bystrica Slovakia

Faculty of Health Studies Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem 40096 Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

Faculty of Nursing and Professional Health Studies Slovak Medical University in Bratislava 83101 Bratislava Slovakia

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