COVID-19 Contagion and Death Anxiety of Nurses Working in Pandemic Clinics

Abstract

Purpose: Today the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which has affected the whole world, has maximized the anxiety level of nurses working in the forefront by increasing their possibility of getting sick or dying and increasing the number of cases and deaths in the world and in Turkey. This study aimed to examine COVID-19 contagion and death anxiety in nurses working in pandemic clinics that are in the western region of Turkey. Method: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 278 nurses between May 15, 2020, and June 15, 2020. The study collected the data using the Nurse’s Information Form and the Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale. The study used the Independent Samples t-test, ANOVA and the Tukey tests in the post-hoc test to determine the intergroup differences. Results: The mean age of the nurses was 36.30±8.01 years and 80.6% of them were female, 70.2% had bachelor's degree, 69.2% were married. Of the nurses, 60.4% had changed their environment in the process, 75.5% needed psychological support and 53.3% experienced loss due to COVID-19. The mean score of Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale was 51.17±8.18. Conclusion: This study revealed that the nurses had a moderate death anxiety level. Factors such as fear of transmitting the disease to their family and losing them, long working hours, working in the intensive care unit and emergency service for a long time and the inability to receive psychological support had an effect on the death anxiety of the nurses.