Anxiety among undergraduate Nursing students with mandatory curricular internship during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: to compare the average anxiety among undergraduate Nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: it was a cross-sectional study conducted with 101 undergraduate Nursing students. Data collection took place through WhatsApp®, by sending a link containing a consent form, a Google Forms® instrument and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The analysis was carried out through central tendency, absolute and relative frequency, and analytical tests. Results: trait anxiety and state anxiety presented medium (52.5%) and high (67.3%) levels, respectively, with mean state anxiety (48.1) higher than the mean trait anxiety (42.3) and positive correlation (r=0.479) between the two scales (p<0.000). They were high among students who lived with family members with risk factors for COVID-19 aggravation, underwent social isolation, without confirmatory tests for the disease, and performed an internship in internal medicine. Conclusion: significant percentages of anxiety levels were identified among undergraduate Nursing students in mandatory internship during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus revealing the need for preventive actions for this public. Contributions to practice: based on these findings, proposals to prevent mental health problems in this public can be developed seeking to change the current mental health scenario.

Keywords

• anxiety; students
• nursing; pandemics; covid-19.