Factors affecting COVID-19 phobia, anxiety status in nurses working at Gülhane Education and Research Hospital

COVID-19 Phobia, Anxiety Level and Influencing Factors in Nurses Working at Gülhane Training and Research Hospital The new type of corona virus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic announced by the World Health Organization on March 12, 2020 continues unsymbiously. During the pandemic, health workers all over the world have faced this serious global threat with great dedication and success. Nurses are the most closely involved in COVID-19 cases among healthcare professionals and are the most at risk for transmission. Nurses who provided 24-hour uninterrupted service to COVID-19 cases during the pandemic had to deal with many psychosocial problems as well as exposure to high risk of infection. Since the onset of the pandemic, COVID-19 has caused great fear (phobia) both in the community and among health workers. COVID-19 phobia is caused by the economic difficulties posed by the virus due to COVID-19, the risk of contracting COVID-19, being seriously ill, being admitted to intensive care or dying, as well as the fear of infecting others, isolation, long closures. Due to their high viral load, health workers experience a much higher risk and fear of COVID-19 than the general population. For this reason, it is aimed to determine COVID-19 Phobia, anxiety level and influencing factors in nurses. The research, which was planned as a cross-sectional observational research, was carried out at Gülhane Training and Research Hospital (GEAH) in Ankara province. The research universe was made up of 922 nurses working at GEAH. Minimum sample volume is calculated as 272. Weighted layer sampling method was used from internal medicine, surgery, intensive care and COVID-19 clinics to represent the universe. Research data were collected between 01.06.2021-01.09.2021. The total number of people reached after at least two visits was 251. The turnout remained at 92.9%. The data collection tool consists of 39 questions involving socio-demographic characteristics prepared by the researcher, the COVID-19 Phobia Scale consisting of 20 items developed by Arpaç, Karataş and Baloglu, and the Beck Anxiety Scale, which consists of 21 substances developed by Beck and his colleagues. Prior to the start of the study, approval was obtained from the.C Ministry of Health, GEAH Health Care Services Directorate, GEAH Medical Specialty Training Board, Inonu University Ethics Committee and scale holders. In addition, written informed voluntary consent was obtained from the nurses who participated in the research. The data obtained in the study were evaluated with SPSS 22.0 package program. The data were specified as number, percentage, median, minimum and maximum values for the variables determined by counting, average±standart deviation for the variables determined by measurement, and the difference in the ratio of averages from parametric tests was examined using one-way variance analysis (ANOVA). P<0.05 was taken to determine statistical signibility. Of the 251 nurses surveyed, 74.9% (n=188 people) were women, with an average age of 28.29±6.56. COVID-19 Phobia Scale score average is 41.08±13.38 and Beck Anxiety Scale score average is 35.92±11.66. As the Beck Anxiety Scale score increases, the COVID-19 Phobia Scale score increases (F=23.89, p=0.000). Covid-19 Phobia Scale score was found to increase as nurses' age increased (F=4,957, p=0.008). Statistically significant corral between marital status and COVID-19 Phobia Scale score was found (F=4,328, p=0.014), the average phobia score for divorcees is 56.33±26.01, while for married people it decreases to 43.14±13.80 and for singles to 39.46±12.54. Nurses who do not think they know enough about COVID-19 (F=3,944, p=0,048), nurses who go out outside of work when they do not have to (F=4,495, p=0.035) in nurses who lost a colleague to COVID-19 (F=3,900, p=0,049), nurses who feared transfer to COVID-19 related services (F=20,475, p=0,000) and nurses who said they needed psychological support (F=17.40, p=0.000) The COVID-19 phobia scale score average was found to be higher. As a result, COVID-19 phobia levels and anxiety levels of the nurses participating in the study, age, marital status, COVID-19 level of knowledge, loss of colleague due to COVID-19, out-of-work situation unless necessary, fear of transfer to COVID-19 related clinics and the need for psychological support. In light of these findings, hospital management plays an important role in the elimination of mental problems caused by COVID-19 phobia during and after the pandemic. Intervention programs aimed at reducing the level of COVID-19 phobia and further improving the mental well-being of nurses should be developed and training and counseling activities should be planned. Improving the mental state of nurses will improve their personal health, as well as enable the patients they care for to receive more qualified services. In addition, the damage of this intensive process will be minimized by providing nurses with appropriate working conditions and durations, providing personal protective equipment and creating rest areas. Keywords: Anxiety, COVID-19, COVID-19 Phobia, Nursing