FATORES ASSOCIADOS À ANSIEDADE EM PROFISSIONAIS DE ENFERMAGEM ATUANTES EM UMA UNIDADE DE PRONTO ATENDIMENTO.

Abstract

Introduction: Nursing is the science and art of assisting human beings with their basic needs. Its main objective is to recover, maintain and promote health by providing services to the person, family, and community. Its field of action is vast, with care from the conception of life to death in the most varied complexities. Exposure to extreme situations, the high risk of death for patients, the speed of conduct and decision-making increase the psychic demand on nursing professionals dedicated to Urgency and Emergency (UE) care, generating a lot of stress. Emotional burnout results from such situations, contributing to developing psychiatric disorders such as anxiety. Objectives: To identify anxiety-related factors in nursing professionals in the UE. Methods: This is a cross-sectional quantitative study whose setting was the Emergency Care Unit in Três Lagoas/MS. Data were collected between February and May 2022, applying psychometric scales that assess anxiety symptoms, both psychological (GAD-7) and somatic (PHQ-15), in addition to the structured questionnaire. The sample consisted of 110 care professionals (assistants, nursing technicians, and nurses), who, after completing the questionnaire, were divided into two groups of professionals with a low (n=54) and high (n=56) anxiety symptom profile. Association analyses and logistic regression were performed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval. The research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee/UFMS (CAAE 53944321.3.0000.0021, document 5.175.675). Results: The profile of more severe anxiety symptoms was associated with an inefficient use of free time with family and friends [82.1%; OR = 5.9 (1.39–24.88)], the family's lower understanding of absences [17.9%; OR = 13.6 (1.35–137.8)], the shortest time working in the EU [46.4%; OR = 6.7 (0.94–45.31)], sedentary lifestyle [73.2%; OR = 46.2 (1.48–1443.6)], previously diagnosed psychiatric disorders [58.9%; OR = 42.2 (6.76–263.1)] and the belief that the use of psychotropic medications increases the chance of errors in nursing procedures [92.9%; OR = 49.4 (5.06–482.3)]. Increased frequency of weekly physical activity was associated with a lower likelihood of anxiety symptoms [OR = 0.3 (0.11–0.86)]. Among the psychiatric disorders indicated by the sample, 53.6% were related to anxiety and 17.9% to depression. Although more severe anxiety was associated with poor quality sleep (91.1%) and obesity (19.2%), the adjusted logistic regression model did not include these factors. Conclusions: The results obtained are in line with several other national and international studies that indicate the presence of symptoms of anxiety disorders in the routine of urgency and emergency professionals with a greater prevalence and bring a worrying reality that needs to be prevented, diagnosed and treated urgently by health managers and other authorities. In post-pandemic times, the theme is highly relevant, and the development of new studies with professionals in this area in different places with new samples can help so that interventions are practiced, changing this reality.

Keywords: Anxiety; Emergency Nursing; Mental Disorders; Nursing; Urgency and Emergency.