Fear of COVID-19, Risk Perception and Stress Level in Polish Nurses During COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

Introduction. The outbreak of COVID-19 disease causes severe stress in health care workers, especially nurses. Nurses are at high risk of contracting the disease, as well as an increased risk of developing mental health symptoms such as fear, anxiety and work-related stress. Aim. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between fear of COVID-19, risk perception, perceived threat and stress in Polish nurses during COVID-19 outbreak. Material and Methods. 106 nurses participated in the study. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FOC-6), Risk of Contracting COVID-19 Scale and Perceived Threat of COVID-19 Scale were used in the study. Results. It has been shown that perceived stress, fear of COVID-19, perceived risk and threat are at high level. All the variables related to the perception of COVID-19 threat were significantly correlated with the perceived stress. The strongest relationship was between the risk of infection and perceived stress. Risk perception was statistically significant predictor of perceived stress. Conclusions. Polish nurses experience severe stress and perceive COVID-19 as a significant threat for their health and safety. In addition to protecting medical personnel from infection, nurses experiencing the highest levels of stress should be given psychological care and support, which could prevent the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental health. (JNNN 2021;10(1):3–9)