The Compliance of Nurses with Isolation Precautions During the Pandemic and the Effect of COVID-19 Fear and Anxiety: An Observational and Descriptive Study

Objective: This study was aimed to determine the compliance of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 with isolation measures and the relationship between nurses' fear and anxiety of COVID-19 and their compliance with isolation measures. Material and Method: This cross-sectional study using direct observation was carried out between February and May 2021. The study sample consists of 57 nurses. Data were collected with The Compliance with Isolation Precautions Scale, The Coronavirus Fear Scale, The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, and Observation Form for Compliance with Isolation Precautions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (number-percent, mean±standard deviation), Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis analysis, Spearman correlation analysis. Results: The compliance of the nurses with the isolation precautions was 80.07±9.70. 73.7% of the nurses did not wear the personal protective equipment in the correct order and 78.9% did not take it off correctly. The COVID-19 fears levels of the nurses were 15.61±5.94, and their anxiety levels were 0.98±1.74. No correlation was found between COVID-19 fears, anxiety and compliance with isolation measures. Conclusion: The nurses evaluated their isolation compliance level as good but as a result of the observation, they did not apply the personal protective equipment wearing and removing steps with the correct technique. The nurses' fear of COVID-19 was moderate, their anxiety was low, and there was no relationship with this variables and their compliance with isolation measures. Making arrangements and training related to compliance with isolation measures may be important in combating COVID-19 and similar threats.