The effectiveness of existential therapy on pathological worry and death anxiety of nurses who experienced sorrow due to the covid-19 pandemic: A semi-experimental study

It is necessary to improve the psychological condition of nurses who have experienced sorrow due to the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of the effectiveness of existential therapy on worry and anxiety of nurses who experienced sorrow.

The current research was semi-experimental. The statistical population of this research was made up of all the nurses who experienced sorrow caused by the covid 19 pandemic in Qom city during in the range of January to March 2023. Using the purposive sampling method, 40 nurses who had obtained higher scores in the Penn State's Pathological Worry (PSWQ) and Templer's Death Anxiety (DAQ) were selected and they were replaced by a simple random method in two intervention and control groups (20 people each). Then the intervention group experienced 10 sessions (90 minutes and once a week) of existential therapy. Also, after the completion of the sessions, a post-test was taken, and a month after the completion of the sessions, a follow-up test was conducted. The data were used using descriptive and inferential statistical methods, including variance analysis with repeated measurements and Bonferroni's post hoc test.

The findings showed that the existential treatment had a significant effect on the pathological worry and death anxiety of nurses who experienced sorrow caused by the covid-19 pandemic (p<0.001). The change in the score of pathological worry and death anxiety that occurred in the post-test phase was also maintained in the stability phase (p<0.05).

Due to the effectiveness of existential therapy on the pathological worry and death anxiety of nurses in this study, this therapeutic approach can be used to improve the problems of nurses who have experienced sorrow caused by the covid-19 pandemic.