Risk Perception of Critical Care Nurses in Indonesia During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Abstract
Covid-19 in the intensive care unit. The complex and contradictory thoughts and feelings of critical care nurses about balancing their duty and fear of this emerging disease can influence their perceptions of risk about the pandemic. Risk perception is associated with precautionary actions and behaviour. Identifying risk perception is important for anticipating the behaviour of individuals regarding a new risk for which information or experience is lacking. This study aimed to measure the risk perception of critical care nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. This was a cross-sectional study. The total sampling technique was used, leading to a sample of 82 critical care nurses. Data were collected by using the risk perception questionnaire in Google forms. The Chi-square test was employed to investigate the level of association among the variables. The results showed that almost all of the critical care nurses (97.6%) agreed that their job put them at great risk of exposure and 90.3% felt afraid of falling ill with Covid-19. However, 40.3% felt that they had not accepted the risk of being infected as part of their job. Many experienced that others avoid them because of their job as nurses (21.9%). Most (73.1%) felt that training about protection was adequate. Many felt anxious when thinking about Covid-19 (63.4%) and 36.6% felt a lack of emotional support. Healthcare institutions should protect critical care nurses and help them cope with the very stressful situations of the pandemic. Emotional support might be needed to overcome their stress and to develop effective behaviour.
Keywords: Covid-19, critical care nurses, pandemic impact, risk perception
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