Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Palestinian Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic became a global pandemic in early 2020. The pandemic has many impacts on people’s live posing a threat to their physical and mental health. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Palestinian nursing students residing in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Materials and Methods: A convenience sample of 345 nursing students from the Islamic University of Gaza completed on line questionnaire packet that included demographic data and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Results: Results from this study revealed that most of our participants were females (79.1%), single (82.3%), not working (90.4%) and having no chronic disease (94.8%). Variant levels of anxiety were reported by participants with 34.5% of them having mild, 31% moderate and 19.1% severe levels of anxiety. Levels of anxiety reported in this study were not impact by any study variables such as age, sex, study year, etc. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: The results of this study revealed high levels of anxiety among nursing students. The closure of the universities, the new experience of e-learning along with the multi-stressors already prevailing in the Gaza Strip have contributed to this high level of anxiety. Universities and the health care system in the Gaza Strip should pay attention to reduce anxiety levels among students. This could be approached by providing online training courses or setting channels of one-to-one online or phone counseling for students to alleviate negative psychological effects and to enhance mental health of students.