ABSTRACT
Introduction: According to Spielberger, state anxiety or trait anxiety is an acquired behavioral predisposition. It is considered an element of personality. It refers to the person’s predisposition to perceiving specific situations as threatening and reacting with anxiety to those with varying levels of trait anxiety, disproportionate to the intensity in relation to the size of the objective risk. Work-related harassment in the healthcare services is a real problem.
Aim: The main aim of this study was to examine the existence of trait anxiety and phenomena of work- related harassment.
Methods: A study was carried out in the area of Crete between August 2017 and January 2018 in fourteen Healthcare Centers, two Primary National Health Networks, four Emergency Departments (ED) and eleven Intensive Care Units (ICU). The study involved 213 nurses. The Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Unit 2, Trait anxiety) has been used.
Results: The 45.5% of the total participants worked in ICU, the 24.9% in ED and the 29.6% in Primary Care (PC). The average age of the participants was 41.73 (±7.33). The reliability of State -Trait Anxiety Inventory (Unit 2, trait anxiety) by Cronbach α was 0.907. The mean value of trait anxiety was 39.03 for the total study sample. The participants were exposed to at least one mobbing behavior in the past 12 months, and for at least once a week, almost daily or daily and for at least 6 months the 11.3% of the total sample. Comparing the mean values of the variable “structure” to the occurrence of trait anxiety, it was found that in ICU the trait anxiety was 40.27, in ED 39.66 and in PC 36.58. In particular, the higher values of trait anxiety appeared in the ICU. No statistical significance was found between trait anxiety and age (p<0.005). In addition, while studying the total years of working experience in the present department, a statistically significant result was found (p<0.05). From the total sample of the survey it was found that 24 people were exposed to at least one harassment behavior in the last 12 months and at least once a week and for at least 6 months. These 24 persons had a mean trait anxiety of 44.87.
Conclusions: The evaluation of the results showed that the nursing personnel of the present study faced trait anxiety with mild intensity. Nurses who have been harassed have trait anxiety with moderate intensity. It is necessary to provide education for the nursing personnel in managing anxiety symptoms.
Key-words: Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, Primary Care, Trait anxiety, Work-related harassment
