Abstract:

Objective: Healthcare workers (HCW), who actively participate in combating the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, may experience rage and anxiety due to the high performance expected from them. This study aimed to reveal how working in a pandemic hospital affects the psychological status of healthcare professionals. Methods: 446 HCW, working frontline in a pandemic hospital, were included the study. Questions including basic demographic data and exposure risks to COVID-19 and depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21) were used as data collection tools. The forms were delivered online, and the responses were similarly collected. Results: DASS-21 scores of 384 (86.1%) HCW, who had contact with patients diagnosed with COVID-19, were found to be higher than HCW who did not have contact with the patients. When we evaluated the scores of DASS-21, the scores were higher in women (p<0.01), HCW diagnosed with COVID-19 among their colleagues (p<0.01), and HCW with relatives diagnosed with COVID-19. Anxiety scores of nurses (p<0.05) and single HCW, were also high (p<0.05). Conclusion: While the world continues to fight the COVID-19 outbreak, HCW are emotionally affected in this intense process. Providing psychosocial support and intervention to cover all healthcare professionals should be targeted by decision makers.

Keywords: