Anxiety effects on quality of life during the COVID-19 outbreak: A parallel-serial mediation model among nurses in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Nurses experience loneliness, anxiety, fear, fatigue, sleep disorders, and other physical and mental health problems due to their close contact with patients in cases of epidemic diseases. Among nurses in Turkey, we want to explore how anxiety, psychological health, and social isolation affect nurses' quality of life. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life (COVID-19 EQLS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-1 and STAI-2), psychological health, and social isolation among nurses. It also aimed to identify whether the influence of trait anxiety, psychological health, and social isolation are stronger than the direct influence of state anxiety on nurses' quality of life during the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design and STROBE guidelines were implemented. In this study, 638 nurses in Turkey were included using simple random sampling. The participants completed the STAI-1 and STAI-2 and COVID-19 EQLS online-form. The parallel-serial mediation model was used to examine the relationships between the determined variables. RESULTS: Psychological health, psychological effects of social isolation, and trait anxiety fully mediated the relationship between state anxiety and quality of life of nurses. The total indirect effect of the confidence interval of bootstrapping was statistically different from zero. CONCLUSIONS: Trait anxiety, psychological health, and social isolation were the main factors with statistically significant indirect effects on the quality of life of Turkish nurses in this study.

Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Sexual Harassment of Health Care Employees: A Turkish Case Study.

The purpose of the study was to examine differences in sexual harassment attitudes between male and female labor force in health care organizations. A total of 571 employees working in various health care organizations in Turkey participated in the study. Sexual harassment was measured using 22 items and three-factor structure with constructs "Provocative Behavior," "Normal Flirtations," and "Trivial Matter" developed by Turgut. The data were collected using percentage, frequency, mean, standard deviation, independent sample t tests, and multivariate analysis of variance and covariance (MANOVA and MANCOVA). The results of the study revealed that a significant gender difference exists in sexual harassment attitudes with respect to "Provocative Behavior" and "Normal Flirtations" factors, while "Trivial Matter" factor was not statistically significant at the probability level of .05 as part of the sexual harassment scale. After controlling for variables such as age, marital status, monthly income level, education level, profession, institution, length of working time in the organization, and length of time in the health care sector; it was seen that most gender differences remained significant.