Intensive care during the COVID-19 pandemic HEALTH anxiety of nurses and coronavirus anxiety conditions examination

Aim: This study was conducted to examine the health anxiety and coronavirus anxiety levels of intensive care nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the current research, the opinions of nurses working in the intensive care unit on the professional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the difficulties experienced during the pandemic process and the facilitators, and the management of a possible pandemic were determined. Method: The research is a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The universe and sample of the research; 252 intensive care nurses working in intensive care units of city hospital consisted of 183 participants (72,61%). Data were collected using Personal Information Form, Short Form of Health Anxiety Scale, Short Form of Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, and evaluated with appropriate statistical analysis methods. Results: The mean score of the Health Anxiety Inventory Short Form of the intensive care nurses was low (16.74±6.22), and the mean score of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale Short Form wass quite low (2.51 ±2.66). The mean score of the Negative Outcomes of the Disease (HOS), which is the sub-dimension of the Health Anxiety Inventory Short Form of the nurses with health problems (X̄=2.94±1.92) and the mean score of those without health problems (X̄=3.61±1.94) A significant difference was found between them (p>0.05). In the results of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale Short Form, there was a significant difference between the groups according to having a child (U=3032.5, p<0.05) and working in the COVID-19 service was found to be (U=1014.0, p<0.05). Conclusion: It was found that the health anxiety of the intensive care nurses who took part in the COVID-19 pandemic process was low and the coronavirus anxiety level was very low. It was determined that the health anxiety of nurses with health problems was high in the negative consequences of the disease (HOS) sub-dimension. It has been observed that the level of coronavirus anxiety is higher in intensive care nurses who have children and work in the COVID-19 service. Key words: COVID-19, coronavirus, anxiety, health anxiety, intensive care nursing.