A comparison in terms of resilience and anxiety between nurses working in COVID-19 wards and nurses working in other wards: a descriptive cross-sectional study in southern Iran

Introduction: Nurses as health defenders in the front line of COVID-19 are among the high-risk and vulnerable groups for this disease. Moreover, they experience a lot of anxiety as well as psychological and emotional strain. In such situations, it is extremely important to pay attention to their resilience. Therefore, the present study attempted to compare resilience and anxiety between nurses working in the COVID-19 wards and nurses working in other wards in southern Iran in 2020. Material and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by complete enumeration, meaning that the sampling process was done in a full-census manner. For the purpose of this study, 1857 nurses (866 nurses working in the COVID-19 wards and 991 nurses working in other wards) were included. To collect the required data, this study applied demographic surveys, the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Results: The mean and standard deviation of the anxiety and resilience scores of nurses working in the COVID-19 wards were 44.11 +/- 7.48 and 73.09 +/- 15.76, respectively. Moreover, the anxiety and resilience scores of nurses working in other wards were 41.57 +/- 6.70 and 75.58 +/- 8.34, respectively. Also, a statistically significant correlation was found between resilience and anxiety (r = -0.47,p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study showed that nurses are dealing with high levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was concluded that due to the effect of resilience on the reduction of anxiety, nurse managers must apply the necessary psychological skill programs, in order to enhance psychological capabilities, improve nurses' resilience, and reduce coronavirus anxiety.