Abstract:

The aim of this study is to determine the levels of work-related tension and emotional exhaustion that can be seen in nurses during the pandemic process and to examine the role of various demographic and Covid-19 pandemic-related variables in explaining the symptoms of work-related tension and emotional exhaustion. This research, in descriptive design, was carry out with 171 nurses who actively working in a university hospital and agreed to participate in the study. The data were collected by using Work-Related Strain Scale, Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Scale and demographic features formed by the researchers. The analysis of the data was evaluated using the variance test, t-test and simple linear regression analysis. The average weekly working hour of the nurses during the pandemic process is 46.36 and the average number of patients they provide daily care is 29.79. 29.8% of the nurses work in the Covid service. It was observed that the work-related strain levels of the nurses were below the average, and their emotional exhaustion levels were above the average. In addition, the study detected that the effect of nurses' work-related strain on their emotional exhaustion was positive and at a low level (R2=0.188 p<0.05). During the pandemic period, it is important to focus on issues such as making improvements in reducing the intense working pace of nurses to reduce their experience of work-related strain and emotional exhaustion, to monitor employees in Covid service more closely and to provide receiving service from professional support units.

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