Interventions for anxiety that can be used by nurses: a scoping review

Abstract

Objective

To map the interventions that can be performed by nurses in the various health care services for the management of anxiety symptoms in adults during COVID-19.

Methods

The scoping review was conducted according to the JBI manual. The review question was: What is the knowledge available in the literature on interventions to manage anxiety symptoms that can be used by nurses in the various health care services, in the adult population, during COVID-19? The data sources searched were: Virtual Health Library (VHL), EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFo, Scopus and Web of Science. There was no limitation of year or language of publication.

Results

Were analyzed 85 articles. Studies have shown that, in general, the entire adult population has experienced changes in anxiety levels during the pandemic. Among the identified interventions, which can be carried out by nurses to manage anxiety symptoms, there was singular emphasis on the various forms of online interventions, with a frequency of 21.4% in the studies, followed by physical activities, with a frequency of 13.3%.

Conclusion

It was possible to map interventions that can reduce anxiety symptoms in the adult population as well as delimit those that can be applied by nurses, increasing the visibility of this category as protagonist of care in the various sectors of health services. Among the synthesized interventions, teleassistance, physical activity, cognitive exercises and non-pharmacological interventions stood out.

Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; COVID-19; SARS-Cov-2; Mental health