Relationships Between Nurses' Emotion Management Skills and Happiness Levels During COVID-19 Pandemic:A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate relationships between nurses' emotion management skills and happiness levels during coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic in Türkiye. Material and Methods: This research was conducted as a cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study with a total of 349 (n=853) nurses in a university hospital in İstanbul between December 2020 and February 2021. Descriptive Information Form, Emotion Management Skill Scale and The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form were used to collect the study data. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Shapiro-Wilk test, Student's t-test, one-way analysis of variance and for multivariate analysis, linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the findings. Results: Average emotion management skill level of the nurses was found as 96.13±14.47, the average level of happiness was found as 22.78±4.28. Sex, working unit, expression of emotions verbally, expressing emotions as they are, controlling negative body responses, and coping and anger management scores significantly affected the total happiness score (23.6%, R2 =0.236) (F=11.639; p<0.01). Conclusion: Attempts to improve nurses' emotion management skills may increase their levels of happiness. Emotion management skills and levels of happiness of nurses should be at the desired level for them to make correct critical decisions on both their own lives and the patients they provide care for, their relatives, and other healthcare professionals. Events can be arranged for this.