COVID-19-related anxiety and coping strategies among nursing professionals working in COVID intensive care unit: A Cross-sectional survey

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing professionals along with other health-care workers worked as the pillars of the health-care system. There have been difficult times when nursing professionals have overworked despite shortage of resources, continuously wearing PPE over hours, and overfilled intensive care units (ICUs). Thus, while confronting the numerous COVID-19-related challenges, nursing professionals might have experienced anxiety and utilized various coping strategies to reduce their anxiety. Methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted using a web-based questionnaire. Information was collected from 200 nursing personnel's working in the COVID ICU of a selected tertiary care hospital. The questionnaire used for data collection comprised three sections: the first section focused on sociodemographic profile of subjects, the second section included the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, and the third included Brief COPE. Results: The result revealed that majority, 61%, of the subjects had no COVID-19-related anxiety, whereas 33.5% of subjects had mild-to-moderate COVID-19-related anxiety. However, only 5.5% of the subject reported marked-to-severe form of COVID-19-related anxiety. The highest anxiety scores were identified for items: (1) I get feelings of numbness and tingling in my fingers and toes, (2) I feel weak and get tired easily, and (3) I have nightmares. To cope up with anxiety, majority of nursing professionals' approach “praying or meditating” coping style mechanism followed by positive reframing and planning. Conclusions: COVID-19 is causing mild-to-moderate anxiety in a significant number of nursing professionals. Thus, the hospital administration and nurse managers should focus on early screening for anxiety, providing psychological support to nurses, and training ineffective coping strategies.