Corona phobia among nurses: A narrative review

Abstract

Since the onset of the pandemic, numerous investigations have been carried out to evaluate nurses' psychological and mental well-being. However, corona phobia and the nursing profession and related factors are unknown. Therefore, the study aims to review chronophobia in the nursing profession. A narrative review was applied through a widespread search in databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, from December 1, 2020, to March 29, 2023. Keywords included "COVID-19", "2019-nCoV disease", "2019 novel coronavirus infection", "Nurses", "Nursing”, "Phobia", and "Corona phobia". English-language published articles that matched the inclusion criteria were evaluated and included. Two authors carried out the search autonomously. The database searches initially yielded a total of 416 articles. After screening the titles, abstracts, and full texts and eliminating duplicate studies, 22 articles were selected for this review, and further data were extracted for analysis. The prevalence of chronophobia was different in different studies. Factors related to chronophobia in nursing included job burnout, department type, psychological well-being, and organizational and professional relocation. The prevalence of corona phobia seems to be high among healthcare professionals (HCWs), especially nurses. The burnout level of HCWs, the kind of job, the ward they work in, psychological well-being, and organizational and professional turnover intention are related to corona phobia.