THE EFFECT OF WORKLOAD CAUSED BY THE PANDEMIC ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND STRESS LEVELS IN SURGICAL AND OPERATING ROOM NURSES

Purpose: To determine the effect of pandemic workload on depression, anxiety and stress levels in surgical and operating room nurses. Methods: study is planed a descriptive and cross-sectional. This study sample was 166 nurses (92% of all surgical nurses) working in surgical units a state hospital, all of whom agreed to participate in this study july 1, 2020. The data were collected by personal information form, the workload Questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21. Number, mean, SD, percentage calculations, t test, ANOVA test, the Spearman correlation test and multivariate linear regresyon were used for data analysis Results: The mean age of the nurses was 38.75 +/- 8.38 years, 86% were women, 78% were undergraduate, 63% chose their profession willingly, 64% reported high stress in the pandemic and 64.5% high workload. When nurses who chose voluntarily and nurses who do not voluntarily choose their profession were compared, a statistically highly significant difference was found between the mean workload scores. As a result of the variance analysis performed between the departments (operating room, surgical intensive care units, surgical clinics) and DASS-21 and the mean scores of all sub-dimensions and workload scales, the difference between the units was found to be statistically significant (p<.05). Conclusion: More attention should be paid to the mental health of surgical nurses after pandemics. It is necessary to reduce the workload in order to prevent post traumatic syndrome. Taking steps to make them psychologically strong will be effective in balancing their mental state.