Assessment of The Experience and Mood of COVID-19 Pandemic Care Nurses

Abstract

Epidemics and pandemics have affected many societies at various times throughout human history. In the 21st century, the world is still struggling with epidemics and pandemics. Nurses play important roles in healthcare practices during infectious disease pandemics and other epidemic diseases. Therefore, they are at risk of direct patient care and exposure to contagious diseases. In this study, during the COVID-19 outbreak, pandemic care nurses; It is aimed to examine their experiences and moods with a questionnaire. This work; was conducted with the participation of 50 (13 Male + 37 Female) volunteer nurses who directly care for COVID-19 patients or suspects. Online survey questions were asked to determine the experiences and moods of the nurses during the interventions. The data obtained were analyzed with IBM SPSS 20® program. All of the participants were trained in care nursing. Participants were forced, 60% (30) of them in the habit of using personal protective, disinfectant and clothing. 78% (39) experienced insomnia, stress and anxiety, but only 2% (1) reported using sleeping pills, 36% (17) practiced meditation, muscle relaxation and breathing exercises. During this difficult period, 62% (31) of the nurses were found to be exposed to verbal/physical aggression by their patients/relatives. A significant relationship has been found between exposure to verbal or physical violence by patients / patient relatives and the Marital status-professional working year (P <0.05). As a result, the COVID-19 Pandemic process imposes both an intense work pace and a heavy responsibility for nurses. Changes in work habits brought along both psychological and physical stress and looking at the data, the fact that the COVID-19 Pandemic process took longer than expected created psychological burnout in nurses. Despite all this, nurses overcome these difficulties with their experiences.