Abstract: Objective: To investigate the anxiety of nurses working at the government-designated hospitals during COVID-19 epidemic and analyze its influencing factors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using the Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire was performed for nurses working at the government-designated hospitals of Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hubei Province. Results: A total of 1749 nurses were surveyed. The average score of SAS was 44.46 ± 10.05, which were significantly higher than that of the Chinese norm (P<0.01). Using the total standard score ≥ 50 as the cutpoint, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in these nurses was 26.7%, with the highest incidence of anxiety in the nurses working at the isolation wards. Negative coping style score was positively correlated with SAS score, while positive coping style and social support were negatively correlated with SAS score (P<0.05). Multivariate liner regression analysis showed main factors associated with anxiety symptoms were negative coping style, being in the isolation wards and other high infection risk departments, being in the management position, being in the front line of Wuhan, and longer length of service, while positive coping, external social support and having work experience in emergency events could alleviate anxiety. Conclusion: The nurses working at the government-designated hospitals during the COVID-19 epidemic had obvious anxiety symptoms, especially the front-line nurses, senior nurses and head nurses who were in close contact with patients. Managers should establish comprehensive programs to help medical professionals cope with these stressors. Moreover, more nurses should be prepared and trained for these emergency events.

Key words: COVID-19; nurse; anxiety; cross-sectional survey